Ritchie limited Norfolk to just one hit in the Stripers’ win
Ritchie was simply phenomenal for Gwinnett, while there were other noteworthy performances down on the farm on Wednesday, so let’s jump into it all.
(55-72) Gwinnett Stripers 2, (55-69) Norfolk Tide 1
- Jonathan Ornelas, CF: 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Luke Waddell, 3B: 2-3, R
- JR Ritchie, SP: 6 IP, H, 2 BB, 11 K
JR Ritchie spun arguably his best professional start to this point in his career on Wednesday, as the 22-year-old tossed six innings of scoreless ball to lead Gwinnett to a narrow 2-1 victory over Norfolk.
All told, Ritchie gave up just one hit on the night while only issuing a pair of walks and striking out 11. It was a nice turn of events for Ritchie after he gave up five earned runs on four hits in just 3.1 innings of work in his last outing. Across seven starts at the triple-A level, Ritchie is carrying a 3.62 ERA in 37.1 innings pitched while striking out 39 batters compared to 16 walks issued.
As the score might suggest, offense was scarce in this one, as both teams combined to produce just eight hits on the night. For Gwinnett, their two runs in this one came in the bottom of the fifth inning as Jonathan Ornelas — who went 2-3 on the night — crushed a 1-2 fastball over the left center field wall, scoring Luke Waddell to hand the Stripers a 2-0 lead.
After Ritchie gave way to the bullpen, John Brebbia, Enoli Paredes and Daysbel Hernandez put together three innings of one-run ball to hold the Tide at bay and seal off the win.
(52-67) Columbus Clingstones 5, (42-79) Rocket City Trash Pandas 6
- Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., CF: 2-3, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB
- Geraldo Quintero, DH: 1-1, RBI
- Drue Hackenburg, SP: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K
Columbus ultimately came up short on Wednesday, losing to Rocket City by one run on a walk-off to move the Clingstones to 15 games under .500 for the year.
Drue Hackenburg got the start and didn’t have his best stuff, which caused early problems for Columbus. In four innings of work, Hackenburg only gave up two runs on two hits, but he issued five free passes during that time as well. Hackenburg’s command was all over the place, as in 82 pitches thrown in those four innings, exactly half were out of the strike zone.
It’s the continuation of a lackluster season for the 23-year-old, as he now carries a brutal 6.96 ERA on the season, thanks in large part to issuing 40 walks in 53 innings of work, compared to just 43 strikeouts during that same span.
While Hackenburg’s start wasn’t great, the Columbus offense took a while to get going. Trailing 2-1 headed into their final at-bat, the Clingstones flipped a switch, scoring four times in the frame. Columbus took the lead on a Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. double — who also homered earlier in the game — to give the Clingstones the 3-2 advantage. Patrick Clohisy brought home an additional run on a sacrifice fly, while pinch-hitter Geraldo Quintero singled home Kilpatrick to extend the lead to 5-2.
In the home half, however, Elison Joseph was called on to get the save and it could not have gone worse for Columbus. By the time it was all said and finished, Joseph walked three batters, hit one and gave up a game-winning, bases-clearing triple to end the game as he failed to record a single out in the frame.
(52-66) Rome Emperors 0, (51-69) Winston-Salem Dash 3
- Logan Braunschweig, LF: 1-4, 2B
- Luke Sinnard, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, ER, 3 BB, 7 K
Despite coming away with a loss, Wednesday’s contest for Rome was a bit of a mixed bag of results.
On the one hand, starter Luke Sinnard was extremely solid, spinning six innings while allowing one earned run on five hits and three walks. Sinnard also managed to strike out seven on the day as well.
However, while Sinnard was more than good enough to put the Emperors in a solid position, his offense failed to string together any offensive success despite outhitting Winston-Salem by a 7-6 margin. All but two batters for Rome registered hits in this one, but Logan Braunschweig tallied the lone extra-base hit — a one-out double in the bottom of the fourth inning — as Rome simply failed to cross the plate once in this one.
(62-56) Augusta GreenJackets 0, (64-56) Charleston RiverDogs1
- Hayden Friese, 1B: 1-2
- Cam Caminiti, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 9 K
Cam Caminiti might have “techinically” got the loss in this one, but that couldn’t have been farther from the actual truth as Augusta was nearly no-hit in the loss of their first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader.
Overall, Caminiti was brilliant once again. In six innings of work, the lefty allowed just one run on four hits and issued two walks while striking out nine in the complete game (six innings). On the season, Caminiti lowered his season ERA to 2.32.
As mentioned above, the offense was nowhere to be found for Augusta on Wednesday as the GreenJackets would have been no-hit had it not been for a single from 20th-round pick Hayden Friese.
(62-57) Augusta GreenJackets 4, (65-56) Charleston RiverDogs 6 (GAME TWO)
- John Gil, SS: 1-3, 2B, 2 R, BB, SB
- Leiker Figueroa, 3B: 1-3, R
- Drew Christo, SP: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
The GreenJackets had another chance to come away with a win on Wednesday, but fell short in the 6-4 loss in what was a makeup game from a rainout last week.
Undrafted free agent signing Drew Christo made his first professional start in this one as he served as the opener. In just 2.1 innings of work, Christo gave up two earned runs on three hits, while issuing three walks and striking out three on the day.
Things went much better for the Augusta offense in game two, as the GreenJackets actually crossed the plate four times. John Gil continued his promising approach at the plate, lacing a double and working a walk while scoring two runs in the process to pace the Augusta offense.
Category: General Sports
