Sunday saw the Atlanta Braves organization split their four games, though we had some exciting performances – especially down in Augusta. The Augusta lineup featuring John Gil, Tate Southisene, Owen Carey, and Dixon Williams went off in a 12-run showing, and that wasn’t even the headline, as Lucas Braun turned in his best start of 2025.
Norfolk Tides 6, Gwinnett Stripers 4
David McCabe, DH: 1-4, RBI, .214/.298/.381Luke Waddell, SS: 3-4, 2B, R, RBI, .289/.384/.371Carlos Carrasco, SP: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 3.58 ERADaysbel Hernandez, RP: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1.17 ERA
Carlos Carrasco tossed six innings in his start for the Stripers, giving up four runs on seven hits and a pair of walks. Carrasco was able to eat innings effectively, and also did manage to pick up 18 whiffs to go with four strikeouts, but he had trouble keeping runners off the base paths – as he managed only two innings where no one reached base safely. Davis Daniel followed, and after a pair of scoreless innings he was brought back out for the ninth, where he proceeded to give up a pair of runs while recording just one out. Daniel actually pitched well, until the ninth, and picked up three strikeouts with six whiffs. The final Gwinnett pitcher to appear was Daysbel Hernandez, who struck out the first two batters he faced – though the second one reached on a wild pitch, then proceeded to walk a hitter before getting a ground out to finish off the inning.
The star for the Stripers lineup had to again be Luke Waddell, who continues his strong second half. Waddell went three for four with a double, run scored, and run batted in. The only other extra-base hit by the Stripers was a Jonathan Ornelas double, and Ornelas also added a single. Cade Bunnell recorded a pair of singles to join Waddell and Ornelas with multi-hit games. David McCabe singled and batted in a run in the loss, and recorded the game’s highest exit velocity at 104.3 MPH.
Columbus Clingstones 3, Rocket City Trash Pandas 0
Ethan Workinger, DH: 3-5, 2B, 3B, 2 R, .227/.298/.400Drew Compton, 1B: 3-4, 2B, BB, R, RBI, .258/.363/.385Lucas Braun, SP: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K, 3.99 ERA
Lucas Braun turned in his best start of the season, if not one of the best of his career on Sunday. Braun threw seven innings of one-hit shutout baseball, striking out nine and walking none. He needed just 85 pitches to get through the seven innings, and recorded 16 swings and misses as he just carved up the Trash Pandas. A scoreless inning apiece from Blane Abeyta and Ryan Bourassa sealed off the combined shutout, with Abeyta adding a pair of strikeouts and Bourassa picking up one – while also notching the save.
The offense was carried by two guys in this one, Ethan Workinger and Drew Compton. Workinger spent the day as the DH, and went three for five with a pair of runs scored while finishing a homer short of the cycle. Compton also had a three-hit day, as he was three for four with a double, walk, run scored, and one batted in. Cal Conley and EJ Exposito each had two for five days and batted in a run with all of those hits going for singles. Despite the Stones scoring only three runs, it was a productive day for the lineup as everyone but Geraldo Quintero reached base once. The recently promoted Ambioris Tavarez singled in four at bats, though he did get caught stealing second base.
Winston-Salem Dash 5, Rome Emperors 0
Isaiah Drake, CF: 2-4, .265/.321/.306Cody Miller, SS: 1-4, 2B, .310/.326/.476Jacob Kroeger, SP: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 2.03 ERALogan Samuels, RP: 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 6.29 ERAIsaac Gallegos, RP: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 3.28 ERA
The final score doesn’t tell the whole story about how well the Rome pitching staff worked on Sunday. Starter Jacob Kroeger went four innings, and outside of a solo homer in the second inning didn’t allow any other runs to score on four hits and two walks. Rob Griswold followed and allowed three runs in his inning of work, which was the blemish for the pitching staff in this game as the rest of the pen was excellent. Logan Samuels was next, and outside of a solo homer to the same player who hit the one off of Kroeger, allowed three hits and no walks with five of his six outs being strikeouts. Not to be outdone Isaac Gallegos came in for the final two innings and allowed one hit and no walks, also recording strikeouts for five of his six outs.
Unfortunately the Rome offense didn’t really get going as they got shut out on just five hits. Four of those five hits came from two players, as Isaiah Drake and Jake Steels each had two-hit days, with Drake getting four at bats and Steels needing just three for the feat. Cody Miller had a double for the final hit, his second in High-A. The Emperors had three walks as well, with Logan Braunschweig drawing two of them and Colby Jones picking up the other.
Augusta GreenJackets 12, Charleston RiverDogs 7
John Gil, SS: 1-3, 2B, 3 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, .254/.349/.370Tate Southisene, 2B: 2-6, 3 R, RBI, .237/.256/.342Owen Carey, CF: 2-5, 2B, BB, R, 3 RBI, .256/.328/.342Dixon Williams, DH: 1-3, 3 BB, R, RBI, .268/.391/.479Jacob Shafer, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 2.57 ERA
Jacob Shafer made the start and was excellent, shutting out Charleston through his first four innings of work. He allowed a two-run homer in the fifth that accounted for all of the damage against him, as he allowed six hits and two walks with three strikeouts over those five innings. Carter Lovasz was next and struggled with commanding the ball the way he wanted to, which led to him being hit around a bit. Lovasz allowed three runs on four hits and a walk in his inning of work, needing 37 pitches to complete the frame. Kade Woods pitched the final three innings and showed why the Braves drafted him, as he was missing bats. Woods allowed two runs on three hits and a walk, but struck out three and recorded eight swings and misses.
Another day, another fun game from this talented young Augusta lineup. Offensively it was so hard to pick out a couple standout performances in this 12-run outburst, as every one of the first five hitters in the Augusta lineup had a notable game. John Gil went one for three with a double, but reached base four times because of his three walks, and notched two runs scored and two batted in. Dixon Williams also reached base four times, hitting a single and walking three times in three at bats, with one run scored and batted in. Juan Mateo joined them in reaching four times, though he had a three-hit afternoon that included a double, plus a walk and two batted in plus a run scored. Then you have Owen Carey who reached base three times in the win. Carey was two for five with a double, walk, run scored, and three batted in. First round pick Tate Southisene also had a big day, going two for six with three runs scored and one batted in.