Kilpatrick came up in two huge situations in an extra inning win for the Emperors
It was a bit of a dreary Saturday if you were a starter for an Atlanta Braves affiliate, as the lack of standout performances contributed to an overall 1-3 day. Still the offenses had some juice to them, especially in Rome and especially in the bat of Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. Kilpatrick has really turned in a great performance the past two weeks, leading a surging Rome offense who has jumped to the second best in the South Atlantic League.
(12-13) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (11-15) Norfolk Tides 5
- JP Martinez, LF: 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI, .279/.367/.442
- Luke Waddell, SS: 0-4, BB, RBI, .195/.290/.280
- Darius Vines, SP: 6.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 4.34 ERA
- Daysbel Hernandez, RP: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2.70 ERA
Gwinnett’s late comeback effort forced extra innings with the Tides, but they ultimately fell short in the tenth as Norfolk walked the game off. Darius Vines put together a mixed bag of an outing, utilizing his changeup and control of the zone to great success but falling victim to mistakes in the zone. While typically it would be the fastball that caused the most harm for Vines he utilized the pitch more often than any other this game yet the hard contact he did give up didn’t do much damage. Vines’s issue ultimately came down to his changeup which he missed in the zone with too much. While he had some success with the pitch —including nine whiffs on 18 swings — two of the biggest hits in the game came on changeups he left over the middle to the same player. Daniel Johnson had three batted balls over 100 mph against Vines, and in the fifth inning he got a changeup that floated middle-middle and crushed it for a two run home run. Two innings later he got a similar changeup and did similar damage, rocketing an RBI double into right field. 13 of Vines’s 28 changeups ended up above the lower third of the zone, which is a recipe for disaster for the pitch.
Gwinnett’s offense mostly rode on the back of Norfolk mistakes early, as three straight first inning walks forced home what would ultimately be the Stripers only run in the first seven innings. The Stripers would remain at one and fall behind until the seventh inning when they once again would meet a pitcher that struggled to find the zone. A hit batter and a walk set the stage for JP Martinez, who in a lefty-lefty matchup went down to get a low sinker and gapped it for a two-run double. Now injected with life the Stripers bats would come through in the clutch, with Luis Liberato doubling to score Martinez and tie the game. Daysbel Hernandez did a fantastic job in relief of Darius Vines, putting a rough month of April behind him as he struck out three batters and walked none in two scoreless innings. Hernandez’s struggled with his slider this spring have led to quite a big of regression, and unfortunately in this game it was much the same for him. He relied primarily on his fastball to have success, as in small samples in his whiff rate on sliders has dipped from 57.6% last season to just 33% in 2024. Grant Holmes has not had this issue at all as his slider has been the reason for his terrific season to date, but that was the exact pitch that ended this game when Coby Mayo got one at the bottom of the zone and drove it into left field for a walk off single. After this showing Gwinnett’s offense sits at the bottom of the International League, with their .682 team OPS making them the only team with a team OPS below .700.
(6-14) Mississippi Braves 2, (11-9) Montgomery Biscuits 7
- Cody Milligan, CF: 4-5, RBI, .261/.325/.348
- Keshawn Ogans, 3B: 2-5, .194/.242/.210
- Drake Baldwin, C: 1-5, RBI, .279/.353/.377
- JJ Niekro, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 3.92 ERA
Mississippi’s inability to hit for any power has been a huge problem for the offense this season, as they rank second-worst in the Southern League in OPS and run production. This was also the case on Saturday, as despite outhitting Montgomery 12-7, they had no extra base hits and were able to notch only two runs with 13 runners left on base. Also notable in this game for Mississippi is the absence of Nacho Alvarez, who played on Friday but has been out of the lineup in two of his past three games. Fortunately the Braves had Cody Milligan to provide a spark at the top of the lineup, and he desperately needed a good game at the plate to stop a short slide. Milligan suddenly caught a strikeout bug at the end of the last week and struck out nine times over the prior four games, but he came out firing on Friday and had base hits in his first four trips to the plate. He and Geraldo Quintero were frequently on the bases together, but it was a rare tough outing for Drake Baldwin who despite his recent good play struck out three times in the game. He did ultimately come through and drive in a run in the sixth inning, and it’s hard to complain much about Baldwin who is now on a 12 game on base streak and had only one strikeout in his prior seven games.
JJ Niekro had been one of the early season standouts for Mississippi, coming into this outing with a sub-3 ERA and only two walks in two outings. Saturday was just not his day, as his usual control of the strike zone faltered and he ended up walking four batters across five innings. More critically it was pitches left over the plate, as the bulk of Montgomery’s damage in this game came on two home runs. In both instances Niekro left fastballs right over the plate, and the Biscuits hitters weren’t missing. Niekro has mostly relied on ground balls early in the season to have success, running with a ground ball rate over 50%, but with pitches frequently left up and Niekro being reliant on location to have success, the Biscuits were able to jump on him and hit him hard throughout the game.
(10-8) Rome Emperors 8, (8-12) Winston-Salem Dash 7
- Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., CF: 2-6, 2 2B, RBI, .329/.373/.526
- Sabin Ceballos, 3B: 3-6, 2B, RBI, .234/.333/.297
- Ethan Workinger, RF: 1-6, 2B, .313/.429/.516
- Cory Wall, SP: 2.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 4.15 ERA
- Jared Johnson, RP: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
Rome has separated themselves early in the season as the most exciting affiliate, as the offense has been on a roll of late and once again put up a big performance in a win. They faced no easy task either, as Cory Wall’s first start of the season was a conveyor belt of hits for the Dash. Wall just was not missing bats in this game, and he wasn’t helped at all by a defense that committed two errors behind him and seven total in the game. The three run first inning could have been averted had the defense held strong, but it faltered often throughout this game and Rome found themselves facing a 6-1 early deficit. The bullpen ultimately stepped up, and it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that much of that was due to the presence of Landon Harper. Harper is an unexciting arm but has been a consistent and reliable piece for the organization at filling long relief outings and once again kept hard contact to a minimum and threw 2 2⁄3 scoreless. Harper faced 11 batters, and of those eleven the only three to reach base came due to fielding errors.
On offense the Emperors faced no small task either, going against Noah Schultz who has put up some of the highest strikeout rates in the minor leagues this season. Rome notched two runs off of Schultz, and in the third inning EJ Exposito made up for one of his three errors by clearing the left field wall for a solo home run. Rome broke through with a three run seventh inning to get the game back within a run, and Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. remains one of the team’s top contributors. He started out hitless in his first three trips, but in a critical spot in the seventh inning Kilpatrick got a pitch on the inner half, and turned on one down the line to drive in the first run of the inning. In the ninth inning the Emperors needed a run to stay alive, and Kilpatrick was the man up to the task. He ripped one up the middle into center field, and hustling out of the box he was able to stretch it into a hustle double and set up Rome with a run in scoring position. Sabin Ceballos would score Kilpatrick by muscling a ball just fair down the left field line, tying the game up. Kilpatrick now has ten extra base hits in his last nine games. Kilpatrick would ultimately score the winning run in the game, as he came in from second base in the 12th inning on an Adam Zebrowski single.
(9-11) Augusta GreenJackets 6, (12-7) Columbia Fireflies 10
- Jace Grady, RF: 1-4, 2B, BB, RBI, .243/.329/.457
- Diego Benitez, SS: 0-4, .164/.233/.254
- Kade Kern, LF: 1-4, HR, RBI, .211/.303/.404
- Adam Maier, SP: 4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 5.29 ERA
This game showed off some of the challenges that Adam Maier will face in figuring out how to approach games, as Columbia seemed to focus on jumping on his sinker early in counts and they were able to hit him hard and hit him often. Maier threw first pitch strikes to eleven of the hitters he faced, and nine of those 11 swung at the first pitch. Four of the eight hits Maier gave up came as first pitch hits, and this aggressive approach early in the count allowed the Fireflies hitters to avoid having to see Maier’s strong secondaries. Because of this the Fireflies often found contact and were able to put up rallies without Maier being able to shut down and get strikeouts and weak contact from his slider and changeup. Maier also didn’t have his best command in this game either, often falling behind his hitters and needing to throw sinkers in the zone to get back into counts.
On offense Augusta had more of a team showing, with no one in the starting lineup having more than one hit. The biggest of these was Kade Kern, who in the top of the second inning got Augusta on the board with a solo home run out to left field. Kern got off to a rough start with an 0-10 through his first three games, but has since been one of the steadiest hitters in the lineup. Over his next 14 games he has hit .255/.339/.489. Robert Gonzalez came through in a big spot for Augusta in the sixth inning, ripping a low and in pitch into right field for an RBI double to bring Augusta within a run. The GreenJackets would go on to tie the game, though Columbia subsequently pulled away. Gonzalez hasn’t had the best season statistically, with aggression in the zone leading to too many early count ground outs and medium contact line drives, but it is clear he has an ability to hit the ball and will need to take the next step and start driving the ball consistently.
.255/.339/489