Wednesday was a big one across the Braves’ minor league system, with several affiliates getting standout individual efforts even when the final scores didn’t all break the same way. The loudest performance came from Rome, where Davis Polo piled up strikeouts, while Gwinnett, Columbus and Augusta each had their own storylines to sort through.
Jordan Groshans made an immediate impact in his Triple-A debut for Gwinnett, and he did it with authority. With two outs in the bottom of the second inning against Charlotte, Groshans jumped on an 0-1 fastball up and away and sent it over the opposite-field wall for a solo homer.
The blast was his 31st of the season, which is a wild number considering he had 30 total homers in his MiLB career entering 2026. The ball came off at 100.1 MPH and carried 383 feet, giving the Stripers an early 1-0 edge.
Gwinnett also got a strong outing from Brett Sears, who made his third Triple-A start of the year and kept rolling. He worked six innings, allowed one earned run, struck out six and gave up five hits.
Over those three Triple-A starts, Sears has a 1.32 ERA in 13.2 innings with 16 strikeouts and six walks. Gwinnett and Charlotte traded blows a couple of times before the Stripers finally separated themselves in the seventh, when DaShawn Kiersey Jr. ripped a two-RBI double to right that scored Rowdy Tellez and Brett Wisely.
That pushed Gwinnett ahead 4-2, and the Stripers finished off the win by that score.
Columbus turned in the most lopsided result of the day, hammering Pensacola 10-1 despite collecting only one extra-base hit. The pitching staff set the tone early.
Isaac Gallegos started and threw four innings of one-run ball, striking out five and allowing four hits. The bullpen backed him up with five scoreless innings from LJ McDonough, Samuel Strickland, Tyler LaPorte and Luis Vargas.
The Clingstones actually trailed 1-0 after the first, but that didn’t last long. John Gil drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning, though Eric Hartman bounced into a double play to erase the runner.
Alex Lodise then singled, Owen Carey and Dixon Williams walked, and Adam Zebrowski stepped in with the bases loaded. Down 1-2 in the count, he crushed a fastball over the left-field wall for a grand slam and a 4-1 lead.
Columbus was quiet until the fifth, when the offense exploded for six more runs. Lodise sparked that rally with a two-RBI single that brought in Gil and Luke Waddell, and later Dixon Williams reached on a fielder’s choice before an errant throw let Lodise, Hartman and Owen Carey score.
Lodise finished 2-for-5, and he’s now hitting .310 at Double-A with a .780 OPS for Columbus.
Rome didn’t get the result it wanted, but Davis Polo’s line was impossible to miss. The right-hander struck out 12 over six innings against Winston-Salem, allowing three earned runs and walking two.
In his two High-A starts this season, Polo has struck out 18 batters while giving up four runs. The Emperors were behind 2-0 before tying it in the fifth on Cade Doughty’s fielder’s choice, which plated Mason Guerra and Logan Braunschweig.
After Winston-Salem retook the lead in the sixth, Rome answered again in the bottom half when Will Verdung doubled home Luis Guanipa to make it 3-3.
That score held through nine and sent the game into extras, where things kept spiraling. Both clubs scored once in the 10th and twice in the 11th, pushing it to the 12th.
There, Rome’s bullpen gave up two more runs and Winston-Salem grabbed an 8-6 lead. The Emperors had one last chance but couldn’t extend the night any further, as Conor Essenburg struck out, Luis Guanipa popped out and Cody Miller lined out with Carter Beck and Doughty stranded in scoring position.
Augusta also had a close one go the other way, falling 3-1 to Charleston. Jacob Jarrell was the brightest spot offensively, going 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles.
Manuel Campos also went 2-for-4 with a double, and Yamvier Carrero drove in the GreenJackets’ lone run. On the mound, Yander Pinero started and allowed two runs on four hits in 3.1 innings, striking out two.
Despite matching Charleston hit for hit, Augusta couldn’t turn that into enough offense.
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