(23-36) Gwinnett Stripers 2, (35-23) Nashville Sounds 6
Eddys Leonard, LF: 1-4, 2B, RBI
David Fletcher, 2B: 1-4, 2B
Nathan Wiles, SP: 5.2 IP, 5 H, ER, 4 BB, 4 K
Despite getting a solid performance from Nathan Wiles — in which he lowered his season ERA to 2.25 — the Stripers came up short against Nashville on Wednesday.
The Sounds tagged Wiles for a pair of runs — only one of which was earned — in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead.
After being held scoreless the first two frames, the Stripers finally crossed the plate in the top of the third as Eddy Alvarez scored on a ground-rule double off the bat of Eddys Leonard to cut the deficit in half, albeit for a short period of time. In the home half, Nashville got that run back to extend their lead to 3-1.
While the Stripers once again cut the lead to just one run after Matthew Batten scored on an Alvarez sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh, the Sounds tacked on another run in the home half of the inning and two more in the bottom of the eighth to seal their 6-2 win. Craig Kimbrel was called on to tackle the eighth inning, but faltered as he gave up a pair of hits and a walk as Nashville tagged him for a pair of runs on the frame.
As for Wiles, he went 5.2 strong innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out five in the process.
(23-26) Columbus Clingstones 3, (25-28) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 2
Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., CF: 1-3, 2 RBI
Geraldo Quintero, LF: 1-4, RBI, R
Ian Mejia, SP: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 K
Columbus capitalized on a great start from Ian Mejia to get the narrow victory over Pensacola. Across 6.1 innings, Mejia scattered four hits and two runs while striking out four in his outing.
For the Clingstones, all of their scoring came in one inning, as Columbus crossed the plate three times in the top of the fourth. Ethan Workinger scored the first Clingstones run as Geraldo Quintero singled him home. In the next at-bat, Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. singled into center field to plate Quintero and Drew Compton to make it a 3-0 game.
Mejia gave up two runs in the bottom of the seventh as Pensacola cut the Columbus lead to 3-2 before giving way to the bullpen. Jose Cuas and Hayden Harris tossed 2.2 innings and while they issued a pair of walks, Pensacola was held scoreless the rest of the way as the Clingstones capped off the win.
(27-26) Rome Emperors 4, (26-27) Greenville Drive 1
Lizandro Espinoza, SS: 1-4, HR, RBI, R
E.J. Exposito, 3B: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R
Luke Sinnard, SP: 5 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Luke Sinnard was excellent for Rome, allowing just one earned run and striking out three as the Emperors came out on the right side of their matchup against Greenville.
In what was his second start for Rome on Wednesday, Sinnard’s performance was much better than his first outing in which he gave up five earned runs.
Meanwhile, the Rome offense backed up Sinnard quite well, scoring four runs on just four hits. The Emperors first crossed the plate in the top of the second inning as E.J. Exposito doubled home Titus Dimitri to make it a 1-0 game. After Ambioris Tavarez doubled Exposito to third, Jace Grady plated him on a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Emperors added on in the top of the third inning by once again scoring two runs. Lizandro Espinoza led off the inning with a solo homer over the left centerfield wall to make it 3-0. Later in the frame, Exposito came through again, this time scoring Patrick Clohisy on an RBI-single to extend the Rome lead to 4-0.
The lone run allowed by the Rome pitching staff came in the fifth inning as Sinnard allowed the run.
(28-23) Augusta GreenJackets 4, (29-24) Fayetteville Woodpeckers 5
Owen Carey, RF: 2-5, 2B, RBI, 2 R
Colby Jones, 2B: 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI
Isaiah Drake, CF: 1-5, RBI, R, SB
Luis Arestigueta, SP: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Unfortunately, Augusta came up on the short end of the stick in extra innings on Wednesday, losing in 10 frames to Fayetteville.
Starter Luis Arestigueta tossed three innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits while striking out and walking a pair of batters.
Trailing 2-0 going into the hole half of the first, Augusta took their first lead of the day after scoring three runs in their first respective at-bat. Owen Carey doubled home John Gil to get the scoring started and make it a 2-1 game. Carey proceeded to score as Isaiah Drake reached on an error to tie the game at 2-2. Colby Jones then tripled into right field, scoring Drake and giving the GreenJackets the 3-2 lead.
Fayetteville tied the game in the top of the fifth, but both teams were held scoreless until the tenth frame.
After the Woodpeckers scored two more runs in the top of the tenth, Augusta trailed 5-3. Colby Jones came through once again, plating Carey on a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-4 game. However, Douglas Glod stuck out to end the game and hand Augusta the loss.