Saturday in the Braves’ farm system was defined by two starters who missed plenty of bats but got little help behind them. Cedric De Grandpre and Luke Sinnard combined to strike out 15 over nine and a third innings, yet both ended up on the wrong side of the final score as the offenses stalled.
Gwinnett was blanked 2-0 by Jacksonville in a game that turned into a straight-up pitchers’ duel. De Grandpre worked five strong innings and only surrendered damage on a pair of solo home runs.
He finished with two runs allowed on four hits and one walk, while striking out eight and generating 13 whiffs. Ricky Vanasco followed with a scoreless inning, and Luis Vargas closed it out with two more shutout frames.
As a staff, Gwinnett gave up just two runs on four hits and four walks while piling up 10 strikeouts.
The Stripers couldn’t crack the scoreboard at all and were limited to four hits and one walk. David McCabe accounted for half of those hits, going 2-for-4 with a double, while Luke Williams and Chuckie Robinson each singled.
Jordan Groshans drew the lone walk. Jim Jarvis and Lizandro Espinoza finished hitless.
Luke Sinnard’s outing for Columbus was impressive in a different way, even if it didn’t end in a win. He struck out seven over four and a third innings and produced 15 whiffs, but he was tagged for four runs on eight hits with no walks.
Sinnard was overpowering early, piling up seven strikeouts on just 35 pitches through three scoreless innings before Montgomery broke through with two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. He threw 59 pitches in all.
Ian Mejia followed with two and two thirds scoreless innings, Owen Hackman added two more shutout frames, and Isaac Gallegos allowed the final Montgomery run in one third of an inning.
Columbus had to scrape for offense, but a two-run homer from Carson Taylor kept the game alive long enough to reach extra innings. The club managed only six hits, with half of them coming from the bottom of the order.
Luke Waddell collected two singles, while Eric Hartman and John Gil each went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Alex Lodise also went 1-for-5 and stole a base.
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