Sunday saw a clean sweep for the Braves down on the farm, as all four affiliates were in action and came away with wins. The biggest story of the day had to be in Gwinnett, where AJ Smith-Shawver combined for a shutout and Drake Baldwin homered yet again for the Stripers. The Braves also got strong starts from Jhancarlos Lara, Riley Frey, and Jacob Shafer.
Gwinnett Stripers 1, Columbus Clippers 0
- Drake Baldwin, C: 1-4, HR, RBI, R, .305/.414/.482
- AJ Smith-Shawver, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3.90 ERA
- Allan Winans, RP: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 3.11 ERA
AJ Smith-Shawver and Allan Winans combined to shut out the Clippers on Sunday, splitting the workload almost 50/50, with AJSS going five innings and four from Winans. AJSS allowed three hits and one walk with three strikeouts, picking up nine swing and misses and four of the top velocities in the game - all above 97.6 MPH. Winans allowed four hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts, and picked up 10 swing and misses. The duo allowed just seven hits and two walks in the dominant performance, even if the strikeout numbers weren’t as high as you’d expect.
Drake Baldwin hit his 10th homer of the season in Triple-A, a 426-foot shot that amounted to all of the scoring in this game. The homer came at a 105.6 MPH exit velocity off of Cleveland prospect Doug Nikhazy. Chadwick Tromp was two for three and Luke Waddell went one for two with a walk, being the only Stripers to reach base multiple times in the win.
Mississippi Braves 9, Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3
- Bryson Horne, 1B: 1-4, HR, BB, RBI, R, .238/296/.366
- David McCabe, DH: 0-3, 2 BB, .125/.286/.188
- Jhancarlos Lara, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 3.31 ERA
In his fourth start since being promoted Jhancarlos Lara turned in five solid innings, allowing a pair of runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Jonathan Hughes and Jake McSteen followed with scoreless innings, then Trey Riley gave up a run in an inning of work, before Elison Joseph pitched a scoreless frame to complete the day for the pitching side.
Offensively the bigger performances were led by solo homers from both Bryson Horne and Sebastian Rivero, though Cody Milligan produced even more. Milligan doubled, walked, scored twice, and batted in three runs to lead the offense. Horne, David McCabe (0-3, 2 BB), David Fletcher (1-3, 2 BB), Ethan Workinger (2-4, BB), and Geraldo Quintero (1-3, BB) were all Braves that reached base multiple times in the win.
Rome Emperors 3, Greensboro Grasshoppers 2
- EJ Exposito, 3B: 2-2, 2B, BB, RBI, R, .237/.311/.418
- Riley Frey, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 2.59 ERA
- Mitch Farris, RP: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2.65 ERA
This was another game where two pitchers split the workload almost down the middle and did very well, though not quite a second shutout. Riley Frey started and went five, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts before giving way to Mitch Farris. Farris didn’t allow a run to score in his four innings, giving up four hits and a walk with three more strikeouts. Combined the duo allowed seven hits and four walks with 10 strikeouts. Frey racked up 13 swing and miss attempts, while Farris had seven.
Offensively EJ Exposito led the way, going two for two with a double, walk, run scored, and run batted in. He was joined in the multi-hit club by Drew Compton, who went two for four, while Kevin Kilpatrick and Stephen Paolini each singled and drew a walk. In his second game since being promoted, 2024 draftee Colby Jones was hitless in four at bats, but did pick up an RBI.
Augusta GreenJackets 2, Columbia Fireflies 1
- Luis Guanipa, DH: 1-4, .176/.250/.196
- John Gil, SS: 1-3, BB, R, SB, .231/.326/.289
- Jacob Shafer, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1.20 ERA
Jacob Shafer turned in a dominant outing, pitching six scoreless frames and allowing just four hits and two walks, dropping his ERA to 1.20 through four starts. Shafer was so dominant that he needed only 62 pitches to make it through six innings. He was followed by David Rodriguez, who did allow a solo homer - but no other hits or walks through three innings of work to pick up the win.
The Augusta offense was led by John Gil and Willmer De La Cruz. De La Cruz had two singles in four at bats, and picked up a run batted in, while Gil was one for three with a walk, run scored, and a stolen base. That accounted for most of the limited offense Augusta put up, but still it was enough to come away with the win. Luis Guanipa hit leadoff and went one for four.
