Braves Minor League Recap: Justin Dean homers for Mississippi in rainy day on the farm

What was supposed to be a busy day down on the farm, quickly turned into somewhat of a quiet one as weather forced the postponement or cancellation of two out of the four total games scheduled on Wednesday. Still, despite the conditions, for those Atlanta MiLB affiliates who did take the field, came away with mixed results.

(30-40) Gwinnett Stripers, (30-39) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (POSTPONED)

The Stripers were scheduled to take on Jacksonville in the second game of the series on Wednesday, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Due to weather, the game was postponed until Thursday, June 22, where Gwinnett and Jacksonville will square off in a doubleheader beginning at 5:05 p.m.

(32-32) Mississippi Braves 7, (22-43) Birmingham Barons 2

• Justin Dean, CF: 2-4, HR, RBI, BB
• Javier Valdes, C: 1-1, 2B, RBI, 3 BB
• Luke Waddell, 2B: 2-5, 2B, R
• Scott Blewett, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Box Score

It was all Mississippi on Wednesday as they rode a solid outing both on the mound and at the plate to rout Birmingham.

Seeking to get back to .500 on the season, things got off to somewhat of a hot start for the Braves even if the offense failed to yield a run. In the bottom of the second inning, Mississippi managed to load the bases — after drawing three walks — but Cal Conley popped out to end the inning, keeping the game scoreless. Mississippi would put another runner in scoring position in the bottom of the third, but again failed to score.

The Braves finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth frame. With one gone in the inning, Justin Dean homered over the right center field fence to make it 1-0 Mississippi. The Braves would tack on another run after Luke Waddell doubled and Javier Valdes doubled two batters later, extending the Braves lead to 2-0.

While the offense was finding its footing, starter Scott Blewett was doing his fair share in keeping Mississippi in the game. Across six innings, Blewett managed to keep Birmingham off the board while limiting the opposition to just four hits while allowing two walks and striking out five batters.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Braves were able to add on to their lead. Cade Bunnell drew a leadoff walk before advancing to third following an error on a pickoff attempt and a stolen base. Beau Philip then followed with a double of his own, bringing Bunnell home, making it 3-0. Conley then singled Philip to third before Philip scored on a double steal to give Mississippi a 4-0 lead.

In the home half of the seventh inning, Mississippi continued to pour it on. Valdes drew a one-out walk before Landon Stephens singled him into scoring position. After Bunnell flew out for the second out of the inning, Hudson Potts launched a three-run homer to extend the Mississippi lead to a commanding 7-0.

The pitching staff carried a shutout into the ninth inning before the Barons were able to scratch across their only two runs of the game on an RBI-double and RBI-groundout off of Kyle Wilcox. Wilcox would eventually find a way out of the inning and close the door on the 7-2 win for Mississippi.

(29-36) Rome Braves 2, (35-29) Jersey Shore BlueClaws 6

• Nacho Alvarez, SS: 2-3, R
• David McCabe, 3B: 1-3, RBI
• Brandon Parker, RF: 2-3
• Daniel Martinez, SP: 5.2 IP, 9 H, ER, BB, 3 K

Box Score

In the second game of the day for Braves affiliates, Rome dropped the second game of the series against Jersey Shore.

Starter Daniel Martinez ran into trouble early. In the bottom of the second inning, the BlueClaws scratched across two runs, one of which was earned by Martinez. Meanwhile, the Rome offense sputtered, going down in order in the first two innings. The Braves would notch their first hit in the top of the third but that would be all they got in the frame.

Martinez would bounce back nicely in the third inning. After allowing a single, he got a double play to end the inning, keeping the deficit at 2-0.

Rome would finally break through in the top of the fourth inning, tying the game up at 2-2. Nacho Alvarez led the inning off with a single and Drake Baldwin singled him over to second base. David McCabe then followed that up with a single of his own, bringing Alvarez home to make it 2-1 Jersey Shore. In the next at-bat, Adam Zebrowski grounded out, bringing Baldwin home to knot the game up.

The tie game wouldn’t last long however, as Jersey Shore would take the lead in the home half of the fourth inning, tacking on another run to make it 3-2.

The rest of the game, offense would be hard to come by for the Braves as they would fail to score the rest of the game as they only notched two hits over the final five innings.

Jersey Shore would add three more runs, one in the seventh and two in the eighth, extending their lead to 6-2 on the night which would hold as the final.

(30-34) Augusta GreenJackets , (28-36) Delmarva Shorebirds (Canceled)

Much like their Triple-A counterparts, Augusta wasn’t able to take the field on Wednesday due to inclement weather. However, unlike Gwinnett, the game was outright canceled instead of being postponed, meaning it will not be made up.

Barring any more weather setbacks, the GreenJackets will take the field next on Thursday, June 22 against Delmarva at 7:05 p.m.