Across 24 innings pitched, Sinnard now has a 1.13 ERA on the season
(18-23) Gwinnett Stripers 7, (20-21) Charlotte Knights 4
- James McCann, C: 3-3, HR, 2B, 5 RBI, 2 R
- Carlos Rodriguez, RF: 2-3, 2 R, BB
- Hurston Waldrep, SP: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Despite being outhit, the Gwinnett Stripers secured a 7-4 victory over the Charlotte Knights on Wednesday night, propelled by a pivotal three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning.
James McCann had his best performance since coming over to the Atlanta system, going 3-3 with a homer, double and five runs driven in. Carlos Rodriguez also came up big on Wednesday, notching two hits while drawing a walk and scoring two runs.
On the mound, Hurston Waldrep was solid for Gwinnett. In his six innings of work, the righty scattered three hits and allowed two runs while striking out six batters. Waldrep managed to put those numbers up despite only getting seven swings and misses on the night as well.
The Stripers led 5-2 headed into the top of the seventh inning before Charlotte scored one run in each of the seventh and eighth innings. However, an RBI-double off the bat of McCann and a bases-loaded walk by Eddys Leaonard later in the frame essentially evened things out. Zach Thompson came on in the top of the ninth to slam the door and tossed a scoreless frame, sealing the Gwinnett win.
(15-18) Columbus Clingstones 4, (16-17) Knoxville Smokies 3
- Chandler Seagle, C: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R
- David McCabe, DH: 1-5
- Drue Hackenburg, SP: 1.1 IP, BB, K
It took 10 innings, but Columbus managed to get the job done, taking a one-run victory over Knoxville to give the Clingstones back-to-back wins.
While the extra-inning win is obviously nice, the main question from Wednesday’s game is the status of Drue Hackenburg who left the game after tossing just 1.1 innings and was removed due to injury and replaced by Landon Harper in the bottom of the second inning. So far, Columbus has not released any public information as to what injury led to Hackenburg’s early departure.
Meanwhile, entering the fifth inning, the game was scoreless before the Clingstones finally crossed the dish. Drew Compton led off the frame with a single and Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. later singled him to third. A double off the bate of Chandler Seagle scored both Compton and Kilpatrick Jr. to give the Clingstones a 2-0 lead. Seagle later scored on a Kobe Kato sacrifice fly to extend the Columbus lead to 3-0.
Knoxville would later tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, scoring one run off reliever Hayden Harris to make it a 3-3 game and send it to extras. It wouldn’t take long for the Clingstones to retake the lead, as a pair of walks loaded the bases before Ethan Workinger scored Kato on a sacrifice fly of his own to give them the 4-3 lead.
In the home half, Harris managed to redeem himself by striking out the side and capping off the Columbus win.
(20-15) Rome Emperors 9, (24-11) Greensboro Grasshoppers 10
- Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB
- E.J. Exposito, 3B: 1-5, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Adam Maier, SP: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Rome came up on the short end of Wednesday’s matchup with Greensboro, but there were plenty of fireworks as there were 23 combined hits and 19 total runs scored on the night between the two ballclubs.
The Emperors kicked off the scoring early, as Patrick Clohisy plated Lizandro Espinoza in the top of the first to make it a 1-0 game. While Greensboro took a 2-1 lead in the home half, Rome would tack on four runs in their next time at the plate. An Austin Machado single scored Bryson Horne to tie the game at 2-2 before Lizandro Espinoza launched a three-run homer — his fifth long ball of the season — over the left center field wall to give Rome the 5-2 lead.
The Grasshoppers proceeded to score in the home half of the second, but the Emperors got that run back and thensome in the top of the third, as E.J. Exposito cranked a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall for a two-run homer, making it 7-3 Rome.
The Emperors managed to score twice more in the top of the eighth inning, but it was too little, too late as the Rome pitching staff couldn’t keep Greensboro at bay. Starter Adam Maier gave up seven earned runs while the bullpen gave up three earned runs in the loss.
(17-17) Augusta GreenJackets 1, (20-15) Columbia Fireflies 3
- Eric Hartman, 2B: 1-4, 2B, RBI
- Owen Carey, LF: 2-4, R
- Luke Sinnard, SP: 6 IP, 3 H, 9 K, BB
Luke Sinnard is making it incredibly difficult for the Braves to find a reason to keep him at Augusta. Across six innings on Wednesday, the 6-foot-8 righty only allowed three hits and issued one walk on the night while striking out nine batters for the GreenJackets.
While he has yet to record his first win thus far, Sinnard has managed to post a stellar 1.13 ERA across six starts for Augusta. During that span, he has also struck out 36 batters in just 24 innings while only walking 11 batters. Sinnard is making an incredibly strong case to be promoted and it wouldn’t be shocking at all to see the 22-year-old get the bump up to Rome with a fast-track to Columbus.
Offensively, things went the opposite direction for the GreenJackets. Augusta tallied just five hits on the night with Eric Hartman driving in the team’s lone run in the 3-1 loss. One bright spot at the plate was Owen Carey, who went 2-4 with a run scored. As one of the youngest players in all of the minor leagues — excluding the FCL and DSL squads — Carey has more than held his own, as he is carrying a .283 batting average to go along with a .776 OPS.