Murphy tossed five innings of two-run ball for the Emperors on Friday.
Atlanta’s minor league affiliates got a pair of stellar pitching performances from a couple of top prospects, as well as a highly-productive offensive outing by one squad on Friday.
(9-10) Gwinnett Stripers 1, (9-10) Memphis Redbirds 4
- Forrest Wall, DH: 1-3, R
- Andrew Velazquez, 2B: 1-3
- Zach Logue, SP: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
It was a bit of a rough go of it for Gwinnett on Friday, as Memphis limited the Stripers to just two hits and one run on the night in the loss.
Zach Logue got the start for Gwinnett and gave up one run in the top of the first inning as the Redbirds jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. Despite their offensive woes, Forrest Wall actually led off the home half of the first inning with a hit for Gwinnett, but J.P. Martinez struckout and Wall was thrown out at second to stifle any type of rally.
On the mound, Logue loaded the bases in the top of the second but managed to get out of the inning unscathed while also tossing another scoreless inning in the third.
In the fourth inning, Logue would allow another run before being relieved at the end of the frame with the Stripers down 2-0.
Brian Moran came on in relief of Logue and allowed a run in the top of the fifth and the top of the sixth as Memphis extended their lead to 4-0 over Gwinnett.
Things remained relatively quiet for the Stripers until the bottom of the seventh inning when they plated their first run of the game. Wall ledoff the frame with a walk and later advanced to second on a passed ball and then third on a groundout. Alejo Lopez followed that up with a groundout, scoring Wall to make it 4-1 Memphis.
Both squads tallied one hit the rest of the way as the Stripers fell by the 4-1 final.
(4-8) Mississippi Braves, (7-5) Birmingham Barons — POSTPONED
Mother Nature got in the way of this one being played, so on to High-A we go.
(7-5) Rome Emperors 14, (6-7) Asheville Tourists 11
- Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., CF: 4-6, 3 2B, 4 RBI, R
- Justin Janas, 1B: 3-5, HR, RBI, 3 R
- Ambioris Tavarez, SS: 2-6, HR, 3 RBI, R
- Owen Murphy, SP: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K
While Owen Murphy dominated across five innings for Rome, the Emperors needed to score in the double-digits to beat Asheville on Friday night.
Getting the start on the mound, Murphy tossed a scoreless first before allowing one run in each of the second and third frames.
Meanwhile, despite putting a runner in scoring position in both of the first two innings, the Emperors were shutout in the first three frames. However, in the top of the fourth, Rome finally broke through, scoring four runs.
Justin Janas ledoff with a solo shot over the right field wall to cut the deficit to 2-1. Then, with two outs, Jeremy Celedonio and E.J. Exposito both walked before Nick Clarno singled home Celedonio to tie the game. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. then doubled both Exposito and Clarno to give Rome the 4-2 lead.
After Murphy tossed a scoreless fourth, Rome appeared to have broken the game open, scoring six runs in the fifth. Ethan Workinger doubled to kickoff the inning and Janas was hit by a pitch. Ambioris Tavarez then homered over the center field fence to make it 7-2 Rome. A pair of follow-up singles by Nick Ward and Celedonio followed as Clarno walked to load the bases. Kilpatrick Jr. laced yet another double into right field scoring Ward and Celedonio to extend the Emperors’ lead at 9-2. Clarno then scored on a wild pitch to make it 10-2.
In the top of the sixth, Rome tacked on another run, courtesy of a Ward RBI-single to extend the lead at 11-2.
Reibyn Corona took over on the mound for Murphy in the bottom of the sixth and tossed a scoreless frame.
In the top of the seventh, Kilpatrick Jr. scored on a wild pitch to make it 12-2. In the home half of the inning, Corona ran into trouble, allowing three runs as Asheville was able to cut the Rome lead to 12-5.
The Emperors tacked on two more runs in the top of the eighth as Exposito doubled before Clark homered over the right center field fence to make it 14-5.
Things got a bit dicey in the bottom of the ninth, as with Chad Bryant on the mound, Asheville scored five runs to cut the lead to 14-11 before Jared Johnson came on to slam the door on the Rome win.
(6-7) Augusta GreenJackets 3, (11-2) Carolina Mudcats 5
- Jacob Godman, C: 1-3, 2B, R
- Luis Sanchez, 3B: 1-4, RBI
- Robert Gonzalez, CF: 1-4, 2B, RBI
- Garrett Baumann, SP: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Garrett Baumann was phenomenal for Augusta on Friday, tossing six scoreless innings while striking out 7. However, it still wasn’t enough as a bullpen collapse by the GreenJackets allowed Carolina to take a 5-3 win.
Neither squad scored in the first two frames, but Augusta finally broke through in the bottom of the third inning. Jacob Godman notched a one-out double before stealing third prior to a Pier-Oliver Boucher walk. Luis Sanchez then singled to the third baseman to plate Godman to make it 1-0 Augusta.
Augusta scored another run in the bottom of the fourth, as Robert Gonzalez doubled Kade Kern home to extend the lead to 2-0.
Things remained relatively quiet until Drew Compton singled Jace Grady home in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 3-0.
After Baumann’s dominate outing, Mitch Farris came on in relief and continued the success, tossing 2.1 scoreless frames.
However, in the top of the ninth inning, with LJ McDonough on the mound for Augusta, Carolina scored five runs to take a 5-3 lead which stunned the GreenJackets in the loss.