The righty tossed five innings of three-run ball in the win for the Stripers.
It was a bit of a rough day for Braves minor league affiliates on Wednesday, as Gwinnett was the only squad to come away with a win on the day.
(11-11) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (9-14) Norfolk Tides 3
- Forrest Wall, DH: 2-5, RBI
- Leury Garcia, LF: 2-4, 2B, R
- Phillip Evans, 3B: 2-4, 2B, R
- AJ Smith-Shawver, SP: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
Facing off against one of the more talented teams throughout minor league baseball this season, Gwinnett struggled to find any type of offensive consistency despite a late push to tie the game.
The Stripers failed to score in the top of the first inning, but Smith-Shawver kept the Tide at bay, striking out the side to get his night started on the mound.
While Gwinnett failed to score in the second inning, Norfolk tagged Smith-Shawver for one run after a shaky frame. In the inning, Smith-Shawver walked three batters and hit another as Norfolk took the 1-0 lead.
The young righty bounced back putting up a zero in the bottom of the third, still without his offense providing any run support.
To leadoff the bottom of the fourth, Norfolk laced a solo homer to extend their lead to 2-0. The Tide would add on to their lead in the bottom of the fifth, again adding one run to make it 3-0.
All told for Smith-Shawver, the Braves top prospect tossed five innings while striking out seven. Across his 80 pitches, Smith-Shawver threw 46 strikes while walking three.
Things began to take a turn in favor of Gwinnett in the top of the sixth inning, as the Stripers managed to knot the game at 3-3. J.P. Martinez continued his stellar start to the season at the plate with a single to leadoff the frame as Leury Garcia followed that up with a single of his own. After Yuli Gurriel — who made his debut with the Stripers on Wednesday — grounded out to move both runners up, an Alejo Lopez plated Martinez and Garcia to cut the Norfolk lead to 3-2. Sandy Leon would notch a double just two batters later to score Lopez and tie things up at three apiece.
Gwinnett continued their offensive output in the top of the seventh inning, taking their first lead of the night. After Phillip Evans doubled to leadoff the frame, Forrest Wall singled him home to make it 4-3 Stripers.
Piggybacking off of Smith-Shawver’s start, Jackson Stephens and Ray Kerr came on in relief and held Norfolk scoreless to maintain the Stripers’ lead.
In the top of the ninth, Gwinnett loaded the bases after Leon, Luis Liberato and Evans all singled to begin the frame. However, Wall, Martinez and Andrew Velazquez were retired to end the inning.
Kerr slammed the door in the bottom of the ninth as Gwinnett sealed the win.
(5-12) Mississippi Braves 4, (9-8) Montgomery Biscuits 9
- Tyler Tolve, C: 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI
- Cal Conley, 2B: 1-3, RBI
- Yolmer Sanchez, 3B: 1-3, 2 R
- Luis De Avila, SP: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
A late comeback attempt was not enough for Mississippi as they came up short, losing to Montgomery by a 9-4 final as the Braves continued their tour across Alabama.
The Braves got off to a bit of a hot start as Cody Milligan was hit by a pitch to begin the game and he proceeded to steal second base. After Nacho Alvarez Jr. and Drake Baldwin were retired, Yolbert Sanchez walked to put a pair of runners on for Mississippi but Geraldo Quintero lined out to right field to end the inning.
Meanwhile, Luis De Avila tossed three scoreless innings in his start while his offense attempted to play catch-up.
While Mississippi again put a runner in scoring position in the second inning — this time Cal Conley after he singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then on a balk. Montgomery pitching coach Steve Merriman was ejected after the wild pitch, providing some early fireworks in the day game. Regardless, the Braves came up short, failing to score in the second or third innings.
In the top of the fourth frame, the Braves finally broke through, scoring once. Sanchez singled into left field to kickoff the inning and was later brought home on a Conley sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 Braves.
The Mississippi lead wouldn’t last long, as Montogmery plated five runs — four of which were earned by De Avila — in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jonathan Hughes came on in relief and was charged with the additional run in the frame as the Biscuits took a 5-1 lead.
Montgomery tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with Hughes on the mound, to extend their lead to 7-1. The Biscuits would continue to pour it on in the bottom of the sixth, as with Peyton Williams on the bump for the Braves, Montgomery again scored twice to make it 9-1.
In the top of the eighth, the Braves attempted to make a comeback as best they could. Alvarez Jr. laced a one-out single into left field and Baldwin followed that up with a single of his own. After Sanchez was forced out to retire Baldwin, Quintero was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Tyler Tolve then doubled into center field to unload the bases and cut the Mississippi deficit to 9-4.
Despite the solid performance late in the game, the Braves’ comeback attempt would fall short as Montgomery won by a 9-4 final.
(8-7) Rome Emperors 4, (7-10) Winston-Salem Dash 5
- Ambioris Tavarez, SS: 1-4, 3 RBI
- E.J. Exposito, 1B: 1-3, RBI
- Rolddy Munoz, RP: 1.1 IP, H, 2 BB, 3 K
- Lucas Braun, SP: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 4 K
Despite a solid outing on the mound by their starter and notching seven hits on the day, Rome fell in a walkoff loss to Winston-Salem.
After starter Lucas Braun tossed a scoreless first, Rome got on the board first in the top of the second inning. Stephen Paolini kicked off the frame with a single and then stole second base before E.J. Exposito singled him home to make it 1-0 Rome.
In the top of the third, the Emperors tacked on two additional runs to extend their lead to 3-0. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. singled, but was picked off shortly thereafter. After Sabin Ceballos walked and Adam Zebrowski singled, Ambioris Tavarez drove them both in on a single into left field.
Meanwhile on the mound, Braun tossed a pair of scoreless innings in the second and third frames to keep the score at 3-0. Braun would allow his first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth as Winston-Salem cut the Rome lead to 3-1.
Rome would get that run back in the top of the fifth as Tavarez once again drove in a run — this time on a force out — to make it 4-1 Emperors.
Things escalated quickly for Braun and the Emperors in the bottom of the fifth as the Rome starter allowed a three-run homer to tie the game at 4-4.
From there, things were relatively quiet on the offensive front for the next four innings. In the top of the ninth, Rome managed to put a runner in scoring position but failed to bring him home to take the lead.
In the home half of the final frame, with Jared Johnson on the mound for Rome, Winston-Salem walked the game off on a fielder’s choice to win by a 5-4 final.
(7-10) Augusta GreenJackets 5, (11-5) Columbia Fireflies 6
- Drew Compton, 1B: 2-2, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
- Kade Kern, RF: 1-4, 2B, RBI
- Davis Polo, SP: 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 K
Despite holding a lead through the top half of the sixth inning, Augusta fell to Columbia by a 6-5 final.
After the GreenJackets were held scoreless in the top of the first, Augusta starter Davis Polo allowed two runs in the home half to allow Columbia to take an early 2-0 lead.
Neither squad scored in the second or third innings as the Fireflies maintained their lead.
However, in the top of the fourth, Augusta was able to tie things up. Diego Benitez ledoff with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Drew Compton walked to put two runners on. Drew Compton then doubled into right field to score Benitez to make it 2-1. Two batters later, Alexander Martinez grounded out to score Compton and tie the game at 2-2.
Just one inning later, Augusta took their first lead of the game, plating three runs in the top of the fifth. Pier-Olivier Boucher singled to kick things off and then stole second base. After Jace Grady flew out, Robert Gonzalez singled before Drew Compton launched a three-run homer over the left center field wall to make it 5-2 Augusta.
While Davis Polo tossed a scoreless bottom of the fifth, Beau Philip was called on in relief to maintain the lead. Philip proceeded to allow Columbia to plate two runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-4 GreenJackets. Philip’s woes would continue in the home half of the seventh, as he allowed two more runs to give the Fireflies the 6-5 lead.
Augusta was actually able to make things interesting in the top of the ninth, loading the bases. However, Gonzalez and Benitez were retired to end the game, handing the GreenJackets the loss.