Murphy tossed five innings in the win for the Emperors.
Outside of a few individual performances, it was an overall rough day down on the farm for Atlanta’s minor league teams. Regardless, let’s dive into Wednesday’s action.
(16-18) Gwinnett Stripers 1, (14-20) Charlotte Knights 8
- Eli White, CF: 2-4, RBI
- Forrest Wall, RF: 1-4, R
- Dylan Dodd, SP: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, BB, 4 K
It was a rough go of it both offensively and on the mound for Gwinnett as they suffered a lopsided 8-1 loss to Charlotte.
Things got off to a less-than-stellar start for the Stripers. With Dylan Dodd getting the start, the lefty gave up one run in the top of the first as the Knights took a 1-0 lead. Dodd allowed another run in the top of the third on a solo home run as Charlotte extended their lead to 2-0.
At the dish, things were brutal for Gwinnett, to say the least. The Stripers didn’t notch their first hit on the night until the bottom of the fifth inning when Forrest Wall singled into center field. However, Phillip Evans would ground into a double play to end the frame.
While Dodd tossed a pair of scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth innings, Charlotte tagged him for an additional run in the top of the sixth to make it 3-0.
Patrick Halligan came on in relief of Dodd in the top of the seventh and things only got worse for Gwinnett. After allowing the first four batters he faced to reach, Halligan would ultimately allow three runs in the inning as the Knights extended their lead to 6-0. In the top of the eighth, with Ken Giles on the bump for the Stripers, Charlotte tacked on two more runs to pile on the Stripers by a score of 8-0.
Gwinnett finally scored in the bottom of the ninth — albeit on the final play of the game. Eli White singled into right field, plating Wall to make it 8-1. However, J.P. Martinez was thrown out at third base after Wall scored to end the game and hand the Stripers the loss.
(10-19) Mississippi Braves 6, (14-14) Rocket City Trash Pandas 4
- Cody Milligan, CF: 2-4, HR, RBI, 3 R, BB, SB
- Nacho Alvarez Jr., SS: 1-3, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB
- Drake Baldwin, C: 1-5, 2 RBI
- Hurston Waldrep, SP: 5.1 IP, 6 H, ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Despite getting outhit 9-4 — not to mention needing extra innings to get it done — Mississippi came away with a win over Rocket City by a 6-4 final.
Offensively, it was a bit of an odd game for the Braves. Tallying just four total hits on the day, two of those coming in the first inning.
Cody Milligan ledoff the game with a single into left field before Nacho Alvarez Jr. followed that up with a walk to move Milligan into scoring position. A Drake Baldwin double into right field plated both Milligan and Alvarez to give Mississippi an early 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile on the mound, Braves’ starter Hurston Waldrep tossed a pair of scoreless frames to begin his night. Waldrep got a little extra help from his offense in the top of the third frame as Milligan launched his first homer of the season over the right center field wall to make it 3-0 Braves.
Rocket City finally tagged Waldrep for a run on an RBI-double in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1. That would be the only blemish on Waldrep’s record on the day as it was the lone run charged to him in his 5.1 innings of work.
Rocket City would tack on another run in the bottom of the sixth — an unearned run for Waldrep — as a sacrifice fly cut the Mississippi lead to 3-2.
Rolddy Munoz came on in relief of Waldrep in the bottom of the sixth and would get out of the inning while preserving the Mississippi lead. However, in the bottom of the seventh, the righty would allow a single, double and a sacrifice fly in the frame as the Trash Pandas took their first lead of the game by plating two runs to make it 4-3 Rocket City.
Trailing by one run in the top of the ninth, Mississippi got a game-tying, sacrifice fly off the bat of Brandon Parker to score Geraldo Quintero to tie it at 4-4. In the home half, Hayden Harris came on and held Rocket City at bay to send the game to extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, with Milligan on second base to start the inning, Alvarez Jr. immediately doubled him home to give the Braves the 5-4 lead. Mississippi didn’t stop there, as two batters later, Yolbert Sanchez flew out to center field to plate Alvarez — who moved up to third on a Baldwin groundout — making it 6-4.
With Harris still on the mound, the Braves would slam the door on the Trash Pandas in the bottom of the tenth inning, sealing off the extra inning win.
(15-12) Rome Emperors 8, (16-13) Brooklyn Cyclones 7
- Sabin Ceballos, 3B: 2-5, 2B, RBI, R
- Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., CF: 3-4, 2B, 2 R, BB
- E.J. Exposito, 2B: 1-4, 2B, RBI, R
- Nick Ward, 1B: 2-5, 3 RBI
- Owen Murphy, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
A five-run eighth inning propelled the Emperors to victory over Brooklyn while getting an eight strikeout performance from Owen Murphy.
Murphy worked around a one-out walk to toss a scoreless top of the first inning to kick things off. In the home half, Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. reached on an error before moving up to third on a ground-rule double by Sabin Ceballos. Kilpatrick Jr. then scored on an Ethan Workinger groundout to make it 1-0 Rome.
In the top of the second, Murphy got a pair of strikeouts while striking out a pair of Cyclones. Murphy ran into some trouble in the top of the third as Brooklyn was able to take the lead, plating three runs off the young righthander to make it 3-1 Cyclones.
Rome got one of those runs back in the bottom of the third inning. After Adam Zebrowski drew a one-out walk, an E.J. Exposito double plated Zebrowski to cut the Brooklyn lead to 3-2.
The Emperors tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Workinger and Zebrowski worked back-to-back walks to begin the frame before both advanced on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Nick Ward drove Workinger across the plate to tie the game at 3-3.
After tossing five innings, Shay Schanaman took over on the mound and tossed a scoreless sixth inning. However, Schanaman allowed three runs in the top of the seventh inning as Brooklyn took a 6-3 lead over the Emperors.
Jared Johnson also fell victim to the poor pitching bug, as he would allow an additional run in the top of the eighth as the Cyclones took a 7-3 lead.
Things took a turn for the better for Rome in the home half of the eighth frame.
Nick Clarno kicked things off with a one-out single and subsequently stole second base. A Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. single would score Clarno to make it 7-4 as Kilpatrick Jr. advanced to second on an error. Sabin Ceballos followed that up with a single of his own, plating Kilpatrick Jr. to cut the deficit to 7-5. Ceballos was then brought home on a Zebrowski single to make it a 7-6 game.
After Exposito and Ambioris Tavarez drew back-to-bak walks to load the bases, Ward came through in the clutch again with a single, scoring Exposito and Zebrowski to give the Emperors the 8-7 lead.
In the top of the ninth, Jared Johnson worked around a leadoff double to get the save and cap off the Rome victory.
(13-15) Augusta GreenJackets 2, (11-17) Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4
- Kade Kern, RF: 2-4, RBI
- Jacob Godman, C: 1-3, RBI
- Cade Kuehler, SP: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, K
Augusta starter Cade Kuehler failed to make it out of the first inning as he allowed two runs on two hits as Myrtle Beach took an early 2-0 lead over the GreenJackets. Adel Dilone came on and put out the fire to retire the side.
The GreenJackets got one run back in the top of the second inning. Diego Benitez drew a leadoff walk before being retired on a Robert Gonzalez forceout. After stealing second base, Gonzalez scored on a Jacob Godman single to cut the deficit to 2-1.
After Dilone tossed a scoreless second and third innings, Beau Philip came on in relief and also pitched a pair of scoreless frames.
In the top of the sixth, Augusta tied things up, scoring one run to make it 2-2. Luis Sanchez walked and proceeded to steal second base before Drew Compton worked a walk of his own. After Will Verdung grounded out to move the runners up, Kade Kern singled to score Sanchez to knot the game at two apiece.
However, Myrtle Beach retook the lead in the home half as the Pelicans scored one run off of Philip to make it 3-2. Philip would bounce back and toss a scoreless frame in the bottom of the seventh before giving way to William Silva on the mound.
Silva allowed an additional run to Myrtle Beach, extending the Pelicans’ lead to 4-2. Offensively, the GreenJackets failed to get anything going, as Augusta failed to score the rest of the game.