Kolby Allard and Jasseel De La Cruz were on the bump while Alex Jackson and Justin Dean did their thing on the Atlanta Braves farm Monday night.
Everyone except the Florida Fire Frogs were scheduled for the Atlanta Braves minor league slate. A couple of freshly anointed midseason Top 30 pitchers were on the bump, while some of the young bats looked to keep hitting.
Here’s how it went down on the Atlanta Braves farm Monday.
Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 12, Gwinnett Stripers 6
- Alex Jackson, C: 3-for-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR
- Adam Duvall, RF: 1-for-5, 1 RBI
- Kolby Allard: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Things started out great for the Stripers on Monday. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to a three-run Alex Jackson bomb in the bottom of the first. It was his 19th of the season, and No. 20 would follow in the seventh. He was the extent of the Stripers offense, however, as Gwinnett tallied nine hits and six runs and Jackson was responsible for most of that.
Allard came out cruising as well until he oddly stumbled in the third inning. He fell off the mound and hopped around gingerly but remained in the game. He showed solid command all night, landing 51 of 67 pitches for strikes while walking none, but was pulled after just 4.1 innings. Gwinnett was still in position to win until Thomas Burrows and Jose Rafael De Paula imploded, allowing eight runs to cross in the top of the eighth, which led to the Stripers demise. Burrows continues to be quite the enigma, dominating Double A but struggling at the minor’s highest level.
Checking in on the rehabbing Ender Inciarte: he singled, scored a run and drew a walk in four at bats. Travis Demeritte did not start the game, but did Travis Demeritte things, delivering a pinch-hit double, his 27th of the year, in the sixth, driving in his 66th run of the season.
Tuesday, 7/16 probable starter: TBD
Jackson Generals 8, Mississippi Braves 2
- William Contreras, C: 2-for-4, 1 R
- Cristian Pache, CF: 1-for-4
- Jasseel De La Cruz: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 8 R (7 ER), 5 BB, 5 K
Things started out great for De La Cruz. He had three strikeouts through two innings, striking out two in an impressive second inning. He was hitting the strike zone high, but mixing his stuff, getting Bryson Brigman chasing 98 mph heat up high before fooling Corey Bird on a low changeup with some nice movement to end the inning. After a quick 1-2-3 third, the wheels came off as Jackson scored two in the fourth before exploding for six in the fifth. De La Cruz completely lost his command in the fifth, walking three of his five batters before Bird took him over the fence for a grand slam effectively ending his evening.
Mississippi did rack up seven hits with Ray-Patrick Didder and Contreras leading the way with two apiece. They simply couldn’t get any runs across, in large part from the top of the order going a combined 1-for-16 (No. 1 Braves prospect Cristian Pache did give on a ride to the deep right center gap in the third that would have been out of most other Southern League ballparks).
Tuesday, 7/16 probable starter: Kyle Muller
Florida Fire Frogs — Off
Tuesday, 7/16 probable starter: TBD
Rome Braves 4, Lexington Legends 3
- Justin Dean, CF: 2-for4. 2 R
- Shea Langeliers, C: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
- Gabriel Noguera: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 8 K
You take the good with the bad. Noguera came out and hurled his third-straight start of six innings or more, allowing just five runs over those 19.1 innings while striking out 22. But he’s also walked nine while allowing 13 hits. Still, Noguera is rolling and was strong on Monday night in recording his second win in a row.
At the plate, Dean continued to hit because that’s what Dean does. He had a double and a single and came around to score on both. Jose Bermudez tallied his second multi-hit game in a row, going 3-for-3 with a run scored. Langeliers did the same, and maybe has something going offensively now. One game after recording two hits and scoring two runs, the Rome catcher recorded two more hits while driving in two.
Tuesday, 7/16 probable starter: Jose Olague
Burlington Royals 10, Danville Braves 2
- Bryce Ball, 1B: 0-for-4
- Cody Milligan, 2B: 3-for-4, 1 R
- Mitch Calandra, C: 2-for-3, 1 R
So, as it turns out, Bryce Ball is human. One day after hitting his eighth home run in just 21 professional games, he went 0-for-4, lowering his season average to .338 with an OPS of 1.215. Danville only mustered five hits and they came by way of Milligan and Calandra, who also scored both runs.
Alec Barger and Alex Aquino didn’t do the offense any favors allowing nine runs in 4.2 innings. Danville was forced to play catch-up off the bat, and it simply didn’t work out in their favor Monday night.
Tuesday, 7/16 probable starter: TBD
GCL Braves 4, GCL Pirates 3
- Brandol Mezquita, LF: 2-for-6. 2 R, 1 RBI, HR
- Michael Harris, RF: 3-for-4, 1 R
- Cameron Kurz: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K
Cameron Kurz picked up his second win in relief since returning to the GCL and hasn’t allowed a run in four appearances. Harris stayed hot, racking up his fourth multi-hit game in his last ten. He’s now hitting .382 with a .935 OPS. Mezquita hit his first home run of the season. Darling Florentino did pick up a hit and RBI, but struck out three times in five at bats.
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