Braves Minor League Recap: Drew Compton drives in four for Augusta

Two of the Atlanta Braves minor league squads went into extra innings on Friday in what was a hectic day down on the farm. Without further ado, let’s dive into the day’s action.

(13-16) Gwinnett Stripers 5, (12-18) Durham Bulls 4

• Forrest Wall, CF: 2-4, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB
• Andrew Velazquez, SS: 2-4, RBI
• Leury Garcia, 2B: 1-4, RBI, R
• Darius Vines, SP: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, BB, 4 K

Box Score

Gwinnett used a ninth inning comeback to send Friday’s matchup to extra innings where the Stripers eventually won in a walkoff.

Durham jumped out to an early lead, tagging Vines for two runs in the top of the first on a home run to make it 2-0. Despite giving up a single after the home run, Vines was able to stop the bleeding and hold the deficit at two.

In the home half of the first inning, Gwinnett got one run back as Forrest Wall homered in the first at-bat of the frame to make it 2-1 Durham.

The Bulls extended their lead in the top of the third, again on a home run, to make it 3-1 Durham. That would be the last blemish on the night for Vines as he gave up three runs across six innings while striking out four batters.

Things remained relatively quiet on offense for both squads the rest of the way, as Durham and Gwinnett were held scoreless from the third inning until the seventh inning.

The Stripers would cut into the Durham lead in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to three hits and good work on the basepaths. Alejo Lopez ledoff with a single and stole second base before advancing to third on a throwing error. Two batters later, Luis Liberato singled to score Lopez and make it 3-2 Bulls.

Gwinnett had an opportunity to at least tie things up in the bottom of the eighth. J.P. Martinez singled with one out but was thrown out trying to steal for the second out. Yuli Gurriel followed that up with another single, but Alejo Lopez grounded out to end the frame.

The Stripers put up one last fight in the bottom of the ninth, which would end up quite nicely for Gwinnett.

Leury Garcia singled to kick off the frame before stealing second base. Garcia moved up to third base on a Sandy Leon groundout before Andrew Velazquez singled Garcia home to tie the game at 3-3, sending the game to extra innings.

In the top of the tenth, Ken Giles came on in relief and allowed a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3 Durham. Gwinnett managed to get the tying run 90-feet away in the bottom of the tenth inning as Forrest Wall later scored on a fielding error off the bat of Gurriel to once again tie things at 4-4.

Lopez was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Garcia notched a sacrifice fly to win the game at 5-4 for Gwinnett in walkoff fashion.

(8-17) Mississippi Braves 1, (14-11) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3

• Drake Baldwin, DH: 1-3, RBI
• Tyler Tolve, C: 1-3, 2B
• J.J. Niekro, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 K

Box Score

Mississippi’s offense failed to show up on Friday, tallying just three hits and one run on the day, as Pensacola took the 3-1 win.

Pensacola jumped out to a 3-0 lead, tagging Mississippi starter J.J. Niekro for three runs in the top of the first. After the first inning, Niekro settled down and faced the minimum the rest of the way across his five innings of work.

At the plate, the Braves didn’t notch their first hit until Tyler Tolve doubled in the bottom of the fifth inning and Mississippi didn’t put their first runner in scoring position until the bottom of the seventh — to no avail.

After Niekro’s’ five innings of work, Anthony Vizcaya, Rolddy Munoz, Patrick Halligan and Hayden Harris continued by holding Pensacola at bay.

The Braves finally got on the board in the bottom of the ninth inning. Cody Milligan was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a passed ball before moving up to third on defensive indifference. Drake Baldwin then brought Milligan home on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. However, that would be all the offense Mississippi would get in what was a rather abysmal day at the dish in the 3-1 loss.

(12-11) Rome Emperors 8, (10-14) Hickory Crawdads 9

• Stephen Paolini, RF: 2-4, 2 R, 2 BB
• Nick Ward, 3B: 2-4, RBI
• Ambioris Tavarez, SS: 1-6, 2B, RBI
• Spencer Schwellenbach, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

Box Score

Rome and Hickory needed 12 innings to decide a winner on Friday and unfortunately, the Emperors were on the wrong side of the outcome, losing by a 9-8 final.

Hickory jumped out to a lead in the top of the first inning, as the Crawdads plated three runs off of Rome starter Spencer Schwellenbach to take a 3-0 advantage. Hickory would add on to their lead in the top of the fourth as the Crawdads made it 4-0.

The Emperors cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth inning. Stephen Paolini and Ethan Workinger worked back-to-back singles before Adam Zebrowski walked to load the bases. Justin Janas was hit by a pitch to score Paolini and Workinger later scored on a Nick Ward sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. Rome tied the game in the bottom of the fifth frame as Zebrowski reached on an error, scoring Paolini and Ethan Workinger to make it 4-4 all.

Things went quiet for both sides the rest of the way, including through the ninth inning, sending the game to extras.

Rome reliever Chad Bryant gave up two runs to Hickory in the top of the tenth to make it 6-4. However, the Emperors re-tied things in the home half. Zebrowski — who began the inning on second base advanced to third base on a wild pitch. After Justin Janas was hit by a pitch, Ambioris Tavarez doubled to plate Zembrowski to make it 6-5. An E.J. Exposito sac fly tied the game at 6-6, sending the contest into the eleventh frame.

Both squads plated a run in the eleventh — with Rome getting theirs on a Zebrowski double play — to send the game to the twelfth tied at 7-7.

In the top of the twelfth, Bryant would allow two runs to Hickory, staking the Crawdads to a 9-7 lead. And while the Emperors put up a fight in the home half — as Janas scored on an error to make it 9-8 — Rome would ultimately fall short in the extra-inning affair.

(12-13) Augusta GreenJackets 6, (10-14) Charleston RiverDogs 5

• Luis Sanchez, 3B: 3-4, 3B, RBI, 2 R, BB
• Drew Compton, 1B: 3-4, HR, 4 RBI, R
• Jace Grady, RF: 2-4, 3 R, BB
• Garrett Baumann, SP: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, K

Box Score

Augusta used some late-game heroics to walkoff Charleston by a 6-5 final.

Starter Garrett Baumann tossed a pair of scoreless frames for the GreenJackets before running into a bit of trouble in the top of the third inning. The RiverDogs tagged Baumann for three runs as they were able to take a 3-0 lead over Augusta. Charleston scored two more runs off of Baumann in the top of the fifth — only one of which was charged to the young righty — as the Riverdogs took a 5-0 lead.

While they were getting shutout, the GreenJackets did tally a hit in each of the first four innings, but could not bring any of them across the plate to score.

Things finally broke Augusta’s way in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jace Grady ledoff with a single in the frame as Luis Sanchez walked to put a pair of runners on. Drew Compton then launched his second homer of the year to cut the deficit to 5-3.

The GreenJackets got an additional run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Grady notched a one-out single before advancing on a balk. After a Luis Sanchez single, Compton tallied his fourth RBI on another single to make it 5-4 GreenJackets.

After Baumann was relieved, Zack Austin and Luis Vargas tossed 4.1 innings of scoreless relief to hold Charleston at bay.

In the bottom of the ninth, Augusta walked things off against the RiverDogs. Jace Grady walked before Luis Sanchez tripled him home to tie the game at 5-5. After Adam Boucher was intentionally walked and Will Verdung was walked two batters later, Robert Gonzalez walked to plate Sanchez and give the GreenJackets the lead and the win at 6-5.