Rodriguez boosted his batting average to .316 on the season
(25-40) Gwinnett Stripers 11, (35-28) Memphis Redbirds 6
- Carlos Rodriguez, LF: 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB
- Cade Bunnell, 1B: 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
- James McCann, DH: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
- Ian Anderson, SP: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
Outside of one inning, Wednesday was an all-around great day for Gwinnett as the Stripers beat Memphis by five runs after outhitting the Redbirds 13-8.
Ian Anderson got the start for Gwinnett and while he wasn’t his sharpest, it was enough to give the Stripers offense some breathing room early on. Anderson loaded the bases thanks in part to a pair of singles and a walk — combined with a wild pitch — in the first inning, but managed to work his way out of the jam by getting a strikeout and groundout to end the frame.
The Stripers gave Anderson some early run support, as James McCann doubled home Carlos Rodriguez in the first inning to make it a 1-0 game and David Fletcher doubled in Matthew Batten to extend the lead to 2-0 in the second inning.
Gwinnett didn’t let up there. In the bottom of the third, Jonathan Ornelas led off with a walk before Rodriguez singled him to second. Eddys Leonard singled home Ornelas and Batten came through with a single of his own to make it a 4-0 game.
Leading by four, Anderson managed to get the leadoff guy out in the top of the fifth before running into trouble as Memphis tagged him for three earned runs, chasing him from the game.
While that was bad enough, Jhancarlos Lara had an atrocious outing when he was called upon to relieve Anderson. In just a third of an inning of work, Lara issued three walks and a wild pitch — ultimately giving up three earned runs without even getting out of the frame. — as the Redbirds took a 6-4 lead over Gwinnett.
It didn’t take long for the Stripers to tie the game, as Cade Bunnell launched a two-run homer over the right center field wall to make it a 6-6 game in the bottom of the fifth.
From that point forward, it was all Stripers in this one. Gwinnett retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth as Ornelas brought Fletcher home on a sacrifice fly. In the next at-bat, Rodriguez homered over the right field wall to make it a 9-6 game.
To round out the scoring, McCann brought Kelenic home on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to extend the lead to 10-6, while Eddys Leonard plated Ornelas on a sacrifice fly to make it an 11-6 game, which would hold as the final.
(25-30) Columbus Clingstones 6, (26-32) Tennessee Smokies 4
- Ethan Workinger, LF: 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R
- David McCabe, 3B: 3-4, RBI, R
- Lucas Braun, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Columbus got several key performances at the plate on Wednesday, as the Clingstones ultimately came out on top over the Smokies by a 6-4 final.
The first Clingstones run came in the home half of the first, as Ethan Workinger launched a solo homer — his tenth of the year — over the left field wall to tie the game at 1-1.
Meanwhile on the mound, Lucas Braun got the start but didn’t have his most efficient outing. Across five innings, Braun scattered six hits while walking a pair and giving up four earned runs.
Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the third, Columbus started to claw their way back into the game. Workinger came through again, this time with an RBI-double, plating Cody Milligan to make it a 4-2 deficit. David McCabe then singled Workinger home, making it a 4-3 game.
Columbus tied things up in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a solo homer from Milligan and the Clingstones took the lead in the following frame. After Workinger and McCabe laced back-to-back singles, E.J. Exposito came through with an RBI-single, plating Workinger to give Columbus the 5-4 lead. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. then brought McCabe home on a sacrifice fly to give the Clingstones an insurance run, which proved to be enough.
(27-32) Rome Emperors 5, (39-19) Greensboro Grasshoppers 9
- Patrick Clohisy, CF: 2-5, 2B, RBI, R
- Will Verdung, 3B: 2-3, 2 RBI, BB
- Justin Janas, DH: 2-4, RBI
- Herick Hernandez, SP: 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
A disastrous tenth inning proved to be the downfall for Rome, as Greensboro tagged the Emperors bullpen for six runs in extras to take the win.
The Grasshoppers struck first in this one, getting a run in the top of the first off of Rome starter Herick Hernandez to make it a 1-0 game. Overall, Hernandez was solid, going five innings while allowing just two runs and striking out three on the night.
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, the Emperors finally plated their first run as Titus Dumitru scored on a Jace Grady groundout to cut the Greensboro lead in half at 2-1. Two innings later, the Emperors took their first and only lead of the night in the bottom of the sixth.
Will Verdung came through with a sacrifice fly scoring Patrick Clohisy to tie the game at 2-2 before Dumitru came around to score on a Justin Janas groundout to give Rome the 3-2 lead.
The Grasshoppers tied the game in the top of the seventh and Rome was unable to string together any additional offense in regulation, sending the game to extras.
Reliever Isaac Gallegos was called upon to stifle the Grasshoppers offense, but it could not have had a worse outcome. Gallegos lasted just a third of an inning as Greensboro routed him for six runs — five earned — on four hits and two walks to take a 9-3 lead. While Rome would get two of those runs back in the home half of the tenth, it would be too little, too late as the Emperors came up short.
(30-27) Augusta GreenJackets 3, (29-30) Charleston RiverDogs 7
- Isaiah Drake, CF: 3-3, 2 RBI, BB
- Colin Burgess, C: 1-3, HR, RBI, R
- Luis Arestigueta, SP: 4.1 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 5 K
Augusta couldn’t take advantage of a solid start from Luis Arestigueta on Wednesday, as Charleston came out with the 7-3 win.
Across 4.1 innings of work, Arestigueta limited the RiverDogs to four hits and one walk, while striking out five in the process.
Scoreless through four innings, the GreenJackets actually plated the games first run in the top of the fifth. Catcher Colin Burgess laced a one-out, solo homer over the left center field wall to give Augusta the 1-0 lead, and later in the frame, Isaiah Drake came through with an RBI-single, plating John Gil and Owen Carey to extend that lead to 3-0.
However, that lead wouldn’t last for long, as Charleston tagged the Augusta pitching staff for one run in each of the their next three trips to the plate to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottm of the seventh. Then, the RiverDogs plated four runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a commanding 7-3 lead which would ultimately hold as the final as the Augusta offense fell flat after their three-run fifth inning.