It was a busy night in the Braves system, with one starter throwing a complete game, another continuing to fight his command, and several bats doing enough to keep their clubs in games. Columbus got the headline performance, but there was plenty happening elsewhere.
Gwinnett fell 6-2 to Norfolk, dropping to 59-58 on the season. JR Ritchie got the start and worked five innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs while striking out three and walking four.
The right-hander threw 87 pitches, and 49 of them were out of the zone, so the command problems were hard to miss even though he kept the damage manageable for most of the night. There’s still time for him to make three or four more starts this season, and the hope is that he can use those outings to make real progress with his control.
The Stripers actually matched Norfolk hit for hit, but they never found enough extra-base damage to cash in. Maverick Handley gave them an early lift with his first Triple-A homer, a two-run shot that put Gwinnett ahead 2-0 in the second.
Norfolk answered in the third to make it 2-2, and the game stayed there until the eighth, when Hayden Harris gave up four runs and the Tides pulled away. Tyler Uberstine, the deadline pickup, provided a bright spot with two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.
The best pitching line of the night came from Columbus, where Garrett Baumann turned in a complete game in a 6-2 win over Birmingham. Baumann allowed seven hits and two earned runs over nine innings, striking out eight without issuing a walk.
After being sent down to Double-A to get things right, he delivered his strongest outing of the season and backed up a very good start last time out, when he fired five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and three walks. This time, the walks disappeared, and that was the difference.
Jordan Groshans powered the Clingstones’ offense. He went 3-4 with a homer, three RBI and two runs scored, launching his 22nd home run of the year in the first inning to get Columbus going.
Eric Hartman scored on that blast, and the Clingstones kept building from there. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. singled home Owen Carey in the fourth, Groshans added an RBI single in the fifth, and Carey later scored on a triple.
Adam Zebrowski capped the night with a ground-rule double in the eighth to make it 6-2.
Rome had the bat work to make things interesting, but it still came up just short in a 6-5 loss to Asheville. Alex Lodise was the biggest offensive force, going 2-5 with a homer, three RBI and a run scored.
Conor Essenburg reached twice with a hit, two walks and a run, while Luis Guanipa added a hit and scored. Cade Kuehler started for Rome and went five innings, giving up six hits and four earned runs while walking four and striking out six.
It’s been a rough year overall for him, as he now sits at a 5.83 ERA with 55 walks in 95.2 innings and 21 homers allowed.
Rome actually put itself in front more than once. Trailing 1-0, the Emperors scored twice in the third, with Colin Burgess scoring on a wild pitch before Lodise singled in another run.
Dallas Macias later tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single in the fourth, and Lodise’s two-run homer in the fifth pushed Rome ahead 5-3. Asheville answered with two runs to tie it in the bottom half and then scored again in the sixth to take the lead for good.
The bullpen held from there, but the offense couldn’t catch back up.
Rain washed out Augusta’s game, so the GreenJackets will play Charleston in a doubleheader on Saturday.
In the Dominican Summer League, the Braves lost a tight one to the DSL Brewers Gold, 8-7, despite outhitting them. Geowin Gomez made just his second start of the season and gave up one unearned run on three hits over five innings, striking out four and walking one. Through 32 innings, he now has a 3.09 ERA with 28 strikeouts and 14 walks, and it’ll be worth watching whether the Braves keep him in the rotation or move him back to the bullpen.
Elisandro Ramirez led the DSL offense with a big day, going 2-3 with two triples, an RBI, two runs scored and a walk. Luis Fortunato also tripled and drove in a run, while Durban Arnedo finished 2-4 with two RBI and a run. The DSL season wraps up Saturday, when the Braves face the Royals Fortuna squad.
In Other News...
Braves Prospect Shakeup Puts A New Future Core In Focus
The Braves updated Top 30 prospect list offers a fresh snapshot of where the system stands after a busy stretch, and the changes are already starting to reshape the conversation around the organizations next wave. Eric Hartman now sits at the top after a strong run that earned him a promotion to Double-A, a notable marker for a player who has moved quickly enough to force his way into the clubs long-term thinking.
Atlanta also has seven players from the 2026 MLB Draft showing up on the list, a reminder that the front office is trying to build depth on multiple timelines at once. The rankings did not stay static, either, with Garrett Baumann sliding after performance issues, which underscores how fluid these evaluations can be as the season unfolds and the Braves sort out which young players are truly pushing toward the future core. [Read more 🡒]
Chris Sale Is Giving The Braves A Real Cy Young Buzz
Chris Sale kept adding to a season that has already started to look like something more than a rebound. Against the D-backs, he worked six innings and allowed one run, another sharp outing that dropped his ERA to 2.16 and kept him sitting near the top of the leagues earned-run leaderboard. He also struck out nine, pushing his season total to 160, and the broader historical company he is keeping is the kind that gets noticed in any Cy Young conversation.
For the Braves, the appeal goes beyond one strong start. Sale is doing it at an age when very few pitchers sustain this level for long, much less in the Live Ball Era company he has joined through his first 22 starts. The question now is less about whether he belongs in the discussion than how far this run can carry if he keeps pairing strikeouts with the kind of run prevention he showed again in Arizona. [Read more 🡒]