Alvarez Jr. also doubled and scored three times in the Stripers win.
Friday was chock-full of interesting games for Atlanta’s minor league affiliates. Four of the six squads in action came away with a victory, including a pair of one-run wins and a commanding 12-0 win by Gwinnett. So, without further ado, let’s dive in.
(32-35) Gwinnett Stripers 12, (35-32) Nashville Sounds 0
- Nacho Alvarez Jr., SS: 3-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R
- Drake Baldwin, C: 3-5, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Yuli Gurriel, 1B: 2-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
- Ramon Laureano, RF: 3-4, RBI, 3 R
- Bryce Elder, SP: 8 IP, 4 H, 9 K
Gwinnett dominated Nashville in every sense of the word, scoring an even dozen runs while shutting out the Sounds.
After a scoreless first, the Stripers broke out in a huge way in the bottom of the second inning. All told, Gwinnett plated seven runs in the frame — all with two outs.
Eli White was hit by a pitch with one out in the inning and proceeded to steal second base. Luke Waddell and Sandy Leon drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. After Andrew Velazquez struck out, White scored on a wild pitch to give the Stripers a 1-0 lead. From there, Gwinnett poured it on.
Ramon Laureano plated Waddell on a single to make it 2-0 before Nacho Alvarez Jr. doubled to score Leon and Laureano to extend the lead to 4-0. Drake Baldwn then launched a two-run homer to make it 6-0 before Yuli Gurriel homered himself to give Gwinnett the commanding 7-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Gwinnett added on. Laureano laced a one-out single before Alvarez Jr. homered — his second in as many nights — to extend the lead to 9-0. Two innings later, the Stripers continued to pour it on, scoring three times more. After Laureano and Alvarez Jr. both singled, Yuli Gurriel notched a three-run homer to extend the lead to an even dozen for the Stripers.
While the Stipers’ offense was dominating, starter Bryce Elder was dominating. Across eight innings, Elder scattered just four hits while striking out nine batters. Ben Bowden came on in the ninth inning and struck out one to preserve the dominating lead and give Gwinnett the win.
(27-32) Mississippi Braves 1, (31-28) Rocket City Trash Pandas 0
- KeShawn Ogans, 3B: 2-3
- Cal Conley, SS: 1-3, R
- Drew Parrish, SP: 7 IP, 2 H, BB, 6 K
Mississippi was on the positive end of a low-scoring affair against Rocket City.
Braves starter Drew Parrish dominated, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out six batters across seven frames on the night to lead the way for the Braves to notch a shutout. In total, Rocket City was limited to just two hits on the night in what was a stellar performance all-around by Mississippi’s pitching staff.
Offensively for the Braves, things weren’t much better as Mississippi only tallied four hits on the night. However, it would prove to be more than enough.
In the bottom of the fifth, Mississippi scored the games only run as Cal Conley scored on a passed ball on a walk to Cade Bunnell to make it 1-0 Braves.
(33-26) Rome Emperors 1, (33-28) Bowling Green Hot Rods 0
- Sabin Ceballos, 3B: 2-4
- Jace Grady, RF: 1-4, R
- Lucas Braun, SP: 7 IP, 4 H, 12 K
Rome only scored once on Friday, but that was more than enough as starter Lucas Braun easily put up the best performance of his young professional career on the night.
Across seven innings, Braun allowed just four hits while striking out an even dozen batters to pave the way to an Emperors win. In his last three starts, Braun has allowed just three total runs while striking out 25 batters across 19 innings.
At the dish, things were much more bleak for Rome as the Emperors scored just once on the day.
The game was scoreless through the first six innings before Rome scored in the top of the seventh inning. Jace Grady laced a two-out single and proceeded to steal second base prior to E.J. Exposito singling him home to make it 1-0.
Thanks to Braun’s stellar performance, that lone run would prove to be more than enough as the Emperors took Friday’s game by a 1-0 final.
(25-35) Augusta GreenJackets 1, (34-27) Lynchburg Hillcats 6
- Will Verdung, 1B: 2-4, RBI
- Luis Sanchez, 3B: 2-4, R
- Adam Maier, SP: 4 IP, H, R, 2 BB, 6 K
The Augusta offense was stifled, only scoring one run in the loss against Lynchburg.
Despite the offensive woes, the GreenJackets actually got on the scoreboard first in the game. In the top of the first, Luis Sanchez led things off with a single and proceeded to steal second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Will Verdung plated Sanchez on a fielder’s choice to make it 1-0 Augusta.
However, things went south for Augusta from that point forward. Starter Adam Maier tossed three scoreless frames before Lynchburg tied things up in the fourth frame, plating one run off the righty.
Things were quiet for a while, before the bottom of the seventh inning when reliever Adam Shoemaker allowed four runs, allowing the Hillcats to take a 5-1 lead. Juan Sanchez took over for Shoemaker in the bottom of the eighth inning and allowed an additional run to Lynchburg to extend the Hillcats’ lead to 6-1. That tally would hold as the final score as the GreenJackets were handed the loss.
(7-19) FCL Braves 7, (17-9) FCL Rays 1
- John Gil, SS: 1-5, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Junior Garcia, RF: 1-4, 3B, R, BB
- Whilmer Guerra, SP: 3 IP, H, ER, BB
Despite only outhitting the Rays by one hit on Friday, the Braves won in a landslide by six runs.
The Braves scored first in the bottom of the second inning, scoring twice. Josnaider Orellana singled home John Estevez to make it 1-0 Braves before Angel Nieblas scored on an error to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Rays tagged starter Whilmer Guerra for their only run of the game in the top of the third inning to make it 2-1. The Braves extended their lead in the home half of the third inning, as Jacob Godman plated Junior Garcia on a single to add on to the Braves lead. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Elian Garcia was hit by a pitch to score Alexander Martinez, making it 4-1.
The Braves added on in the bottom of the sixth inning as John Gil launched a two-run homer to make it 6-1. In the bottom of the eighth, the Braves tacked on some much-needed insurance runs as Roiber Niazoa scored on an error on a pickoff throw to make it 7-1, which would hold as the final.
(2-5) DSL Braves 6, (6-2) DSL Red Sox Red 7
- Carlos Monteverde, 1B: 2-3, 2B, RBI, 2 R, BB
- Michael Martinez, LF: 2-4, 2B, 2 R, BB
- Sebastian Estiven, SP: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, BB, 3 K
The Braves’ DSL squad came up short on Friday, losing by one run to the Red Sox Red team by a 7-6 final.
After both teams were held scoreless in the first inning, the Red Sox jumped on the board first, tagging Braves’ starter Sebastian Estiven for two runs to take a 2-0 lead. Estiven allowed an additional run in the top of the third as the Red Sox extended their lead to 3-0.
Reliever Yansel Marine replaced Estiven in the top of the fourth and subsequently allowed an additional run to make it a 4-0 deficit. However, the Braves bounced back, scoring three runs in the home half.
After Michael Martinez doubled and Monteverde walked, Red Sox pitcher Jhon Alcantara balked to move both runners up. Alcantara then tossed a wild pitch, allowing Martinez to score to make it 4-1. Monteverde would come around to score on an error to make it 4-2. Later in the frame, Mario Baez would score on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 4-3.
However, the Red Sox got those three runs back in the top of the fifth to make it a 7-3 game. The Braves would battle back, plating one run in the bottom of the sixth as Elio Campos scored on a Joan Acevedo single to make it 7-4. In the next frame, Monteverde doubled home Michael Martinez to make it 7-5 and later in the frame Monteverde scored on a forceout to make it a 7-6 game.
That would prove to be more than enough as the Braves were hung with the loss.