Braves Minor League Recap: Luis Guanipa homers and continues strong start to season

(7-8) Biloxi Shuckers 8, (9-6) Columbus Clingstones 10 – F/12

• Luke Waddell, SS: 2-for-6, 2 R, RBI, .304/.439/.522
• David McCabe, 1B: 1-for-6, HR (5), 2 RBI, R, .273/.439/.636
• Adam Żebrowski, C: 3-for-5, 2 HR (4), 3 RBI, 2 R, BB, .321/.412/.750
• Herick Hernandez, SP: 1.1IP 3H 3R 2ER 3BB 2K, 1.74 ERA Box Score The Herick Hernandez experience finally hit a speed bump this season as the pitcher struggled with his pitch count and lasted just 1.1 innings – needing a crazy 65 pitches. Because of that, the Clingstones were forced to essentially have a bullpen game that lasted a full 12 innings. Jack Dashwood (2.1IP 3H 0R 0BB 4K), Jhancarlos Lara (1IP 1H 1ER 2BB 1K), LJ McDonough (1.1IP 1H 3ER 2BB 1K), Blayne Enlow (1.2IP 2H 0R 1BB 2K), Blane Abeyta (2IP 0H 0R 1BB 2K), and Shay Schanaman (2IP 1H 1R 0ER 0BB 1K) did just enough to get the win for the Clingstones. The pitching staff had a combined 9 walks while striking out 13. If traditional, strong pitch baseball is your thing, this game was not to your liking. The Clingstones recorded 10 runs but never scored more than two in a single inning. After going down 3-0 it was Jordan Groshans and Adam Zebrowski who would each hit solo homers to reduce the deficient to a single run in the third. David McCabe would add his fifth homer of the season in the third inning with this two run blast. The game would then be tied entering the bottom of the fifth inning after another bad outing by Jhancarlos Lara, but Cal Conley would put the Clingstones back up with his first homer of the season. After the game being tied again after the seventh inning, the teams would exchange zeroes for the next four innings. The Shuckers would score via the ghost runner in the top of the 12th to give them the 8-7 lead, but after an RBI single by Patrick Clohisy tied the game, Adam Zebrowski would end the game with his second homer of the season, this time of the walk off variety.

(9-5) Jersey Shore BlueClaws 7, (6-9) Rome Emperors 2

• Colin Burgess, C: 2-for-4, RBI, .250/.432/.286
• Sean Murphy, DH: 0-for-4, BB
• John Gil, SS: 0-for-3, .170/.298/.298
• Jeremy Reyes, SP: 3.1IP 2H 1ER 3BB 0K, 6.57 ERA Box Score Rome lost another one to the BlueClaws thanks to some faulty pitching towards the end of the game. Jeremy Reyes got the start and was inefficient but effective, walking three, pitching just 3.1 innings but only allowing one earned run to score. Reyes left the game with two runners on and one out and was relieved by David Rodriguez (1.2IP 1H 0R 3BB 2K) who struck out the first hitter he saw, but then walked the next to to put the BlueClaws up one. Trent Buchanan (1IP 0H 0R 3BB 2K) came in for David Rodriguez and flirted with disaster by walking the bases loaded with just one out, but was able to escape the jam without surrendering a run. The luck ran out in the seventh inning when Ian Mejia (1IP 1H 4ER 3BB 2K) also walked the bases loaded before giving up a grand slam to push the lead to 5-0. The BlueClaws would add one two more runs the following ending against Justin Long (1IP 2H 2ER 1BB 1K) to bring their total to seven for the game. That was more than enough because the Rome bats were silenced. The Emperors drew an outstanding eight walks, with Logan Braunschweig walking three times himself, but they collected just three hits – one by Isaiah Drake who stole his fifth base, and Colin Burgess who recorded two himself. They would strand nine on base, and go 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position for the final nail in the coffin.

(3-11) Fayetteville Woodpeckers 5, (9-6) Augusta GreenJackets 12

• Dalton McIntyre, LF: 3-for-5, HR, 4 RBI, R, .438/.471/.750
• Juan Mateo, 3B: 2-for-5, R, SB(1), .333/.400/.333
• Junior Garcia, RF: 2-for-5, HR, RBI, 2 R, .256/.360/.395
• Luis Guanipa, CF: 4-for-5, HR, 2B, 3 R, RBI, SB (8), .346/.368/.538
• Yamvier Carrero, 2B: 2-for-3, BB, 2 R, 3 SB (3)
• Davis Polo, SP: 4IP 1H 1ER 3BB 3K, 1.64 ERA Box score The GreenJackets exploded for 12 runs on 15 hits in another win over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. Davis Polo picked up the start and surrendered just one hit over four innings of work. After returning from a season long injury, Davis is slowly ramping up his arm so while the velocities have been a tad inconsistent, the three pitch mix he utilizes (four-seam, slider, changeup) have all looked pretty solid. He was relieved by Cristobal Abreu (0.0IP 1H 1ER 3BB 0K) who was unfortunately dreadful, giving up an earned run by walking three and not recording a single out – an unfortunate result as the Abreu four-seam/slider mix looked strong this off-season with his velocity peaking around 99 MPH, but it he was unable to control anything. Mathieu Curtis (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K) picked up the slack by striking out the side ending the threat. Finally, Kendy Richard (4IP 5H 2ER 2BB 4K) pitched the final four innings and struggled himself which is unfortunately a theme for him this season. Without the elite velocity on his fastball and his inability to locate it in the top of the zone, Kendry simply isn’t generating the whiffs he did last season that enabled that strong start. Fortunately for him, because the offense was once again outrageous, he pitched the final four innings and picked up the save. Offensively, everyone but Dallas Macias was able to get on base. The GreenJackets scored their first run in the first inning after two wild pitches allowed the first runner to score. They would add three in the third by flexing their power with Dalton McIntyre hitting a two run homer to score Alex Lodise, then Luis Guanipa would unload on his second homer of the season to push the lead to 4-1. This would start a stretch of five straight innings where the GreenJackets would pick up at least one run. Guanipa would create a run of his own in the fifth inning by leading off the game with a double, stealing third, and then scoring after a fielding error by the third baseman. Junior Garcia add his first homer as well, to extend the lead to 7-2. Yamvier Carrero, an undrafted free agent that the Braves signed out of Puerto Rico made his professional debut. He would hit ninth, pick up a pair of singles, one walk, and go 3-for-3 in the stolen base department.