Cedric de Grandpre made his first start of the season in full season ball on Sunday, and threw six no-hit innings with 19 whiffs. JR Ritchie and Brett Sears combined on a gem as well.
The story of the Atlanta Braves system on Sunday had to be the pitching performances by a trio of prospects. Cedric de Grandpre throwing six no-hit innings with 19 whiffs in his first full season start of the year was the headliner, but the combined outing by JR Ritchie and Brett Sears for Columbus was almost as impressive by itself. That doesn’t even get into how well Jeremy Reyes and Samuel Mejia pitched for Augusta in the nightcap, or the Gwinnett bullpen game allowing just one run as the four affiliates in the Braves system all notched a victory on Sunday.
Gwinnett Stripers 4, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 1
- Carlos Rodriguez, RF: 3-4, 2 R, .295/.354/.342
- James McCann, C: 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, .306/.342/.514
- Craig Kimbrel, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 1.32 ERA
Gwinnett ended up with bullpen game here. Zach Thompson made the start and went three innings, allowing a run on two hits and no walks with a pair of strikeouts. After him a total of five different relievers went the next six innings, giving up just one more hit while not allowing another run to score. Thompson was followed by a pair of scoreless frames by Jackson Stephens, who struck out two. After that a lineup of Michael Petersen, Austin Cox, Jesse Chavez, and finally Craig Kimbrel each went one scoreless inning. Combined the six pitchers allowed a run on three hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts.
James McCann led the offense, going two for four with a two-run homer for his fifth of the year with the Stripers. Carlos Rodriguez went three for four with a pair of runs scored, which now gives him a hit in four straight games. With this little hitting streak he has seen his on base percentage rise from .331 to .354 over the weekend.. Jose Devers added a double in two trips to the plate. Jarred Kelenic was one for four with a single and got caught stealing a base in the victory.
Swing and Misses
Austin Cox – 3
Columbus Clingstones 8, Chattanooga Lookouts 2
- David McCabe, 3B: 1-4, 2B, BB, R, RBI, .245/.376/.371
- Ethan Workinger, DH: 2-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI, .240/.327/.480
- JR Ritchie, SP: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 3.14 ERA
- Brett Sears, RP: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 0.00 ERA
JR Ritchie and Brett Sears threw a real gem early on in their Double-A careers on Sunday. Ritchie started and aside from a solo homer to former first round pick Austin Hendrick, was just too good for the Chattanooga lineup. Over four innings Ritchie allowed two hits and two walks with five strikeouts, picking up 10 swings and misses over the 61 pitches he threw. Sears followed with a nearly identical line, pitching four scoreless innings, also giving up two hits and two walks. Sears only struck out three, but he got 11 swings and misses – over an identical 61 pitches to Ritchie. Both also had one hit by pitch. Not a bad performance in Ritchie’s third and Sears’ second appearance after being promoted. The final inning saw Hayden Harris come on and give up a run on a pair of hits as he finished off the game.
Once again the offense was led by David McCabe and Ethan Workinger. McCabe went one for four with a double, walk, run scored, and an RBI, while Workinger was two for five with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Drew Compton went three for five with a run and there were two-hit afternoons from Kevin Kilpatrick, Kobe Kato, and Adam Zebrowski, with Kato picking up a double and Zebrowski being responsible for three runs batted in.
Swing and Misses
Brett Sears – 11
JR Ritchie – 10
Rome Emperors 3, Asheville Tourists 0
- Will Verdung, 3B: 2-4, RBI, .307/.389/.374
- Patrick Clohisy, CF: 1-4, 2B, R, .254/.365/.368
- EJ Exposito, 2B: 2-4, 2 2B, R, .234/.348/.405
- Cedric de Grandpre, SP: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K, 0.00 ERA
Sunday was the first start of the season for Cedric de Grandpre with Rome. He finished last year here, making 12 starts, but opened the season late due to injury and had just made a pair of rehab starts in the FCL. Cedric was entertaining in this one to say the least, throwing six no-hit innings with no walks – only one hit by pitch got in the way of him throwing six perfect innings. De Grandpre also struck out 10 with a total of 19 swings and misses, leaving the game at 83 pitches. Scoreless innings from Ryan Bourassa and Amos Willingham followed, with both extending the no hitter through eight innings. The ninth saw Tyler LaPorte come on, and after a pair of groundouts he was one out shy of the combined no hitter. Unfortunately he went on to allow a double, followed by a single before one final ground out to end it. Combined the group allowed two hits and two walks with 12 strikeouts in the shutout.
This game saw the usual duo of Will Verdung and Patrick Clohisy lead the offense, along with EJ Exposito. Verdung was two for four with an RBI, bringing his average up to .307 on the year and pushing his OBP closer to .400. Clohisy was one for four with a double and a run scored, while Exposito was two for four with both hits going for doubles, and scoring a run. Rome also got a two-run homer from Justin Janas, which was just his second of the season. Ambioris Tavarez and Titus Dumitru both failed to reach base in the win.
Swing and Misses
Cedric de Grandpre – 19
Ryan Bourassa – 3
Augusta GreenJackets 4, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1
- Luis Sanchez, 2B: 3-4, R, 2 RBI, .259/.360/.324
- Colby Jones, 3B: 0-1, 3 BB, R, 3 SB, .208/.328/.266
- Jeremy Reyes, SP: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1.56 ERA
- Samuel Mejia, RP: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 4.68 ERA
Augusta got a start from Jeremy Reyes, and the young prospect pitched four good innings despite not having his swing and miss stuff in this outing. Reyes allowed an unearned run on three hits and two walks with one strikeout, picking up four swings and misses and dropping his ERA to 1.56. Reyes needed just 59 pitches to get through those four innings. Samuel Mejia was next, and he was perfect over three innings. Mejia not only didn’t allow a run, but he didn’t allow and hits or walks and struck out six in those three innings. Albert Rivas and David Rodriguez followed with a scoreless frame apiece, and that held the Pelicans to just that unearned run off of Reyes.
The offensive stars in this one were Luis Sanchez and Colby Jones. Sanchez went three for four with a run and a pair of runs batted in while hitting out of the nine-hole. Jones was hitless in his one at bat, but walked three times, stole three bases in three attempts, and scored a run. Among the other prospects John Gil was one for five with a double, steal, and run batted in, while Nick Montgomery was one for four with an RBI himself. The recently hot Mason Guerra had a single, run scored, and run batted in, while the recently promoted Carlos Monteverde added a single and run scored. The duo of Isaiah Drake and Owen Carey failed to reach base, while Eric Hartman was not in the lineup on Sunday.
Swing and Misses
Samuel Mejia – 7
Jeremy Reyes – 4