Stripers Dominate With Pitching And Power, Take Series Win In Jacksonville

The Minor League Baseball season is nearing its end. Augusta and Rome have both completed their seasons, Columbus will finish its season Sunday, and Gwinnett has only one more week remaining after this series in Jacksonville. Even with the season winding down, there was still plenty of opportunity to watch some great baseball from some of the Braves’ most experienced prospects.

This week, the Stripers took on the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. The pitching throughout the series was phenomenal, and the offense produced enough to put Gwinnett in the win column four times.

Tuesday began with a doubleheader. In the first game, Owen Murphy pitched a complete six-inning game and allowed only one run. Unfortunately, the offense went cold and couldn’t put any runs across the plate, leaving Murphy with a tough 1-0 loss. The second game was a bullpen game for Gwinnett. The Stripers used four different pitchers to hold Jacksonville to one run and earn a 3-1 win.

Wednesday was when the pitching and hitting were finally on the same page for the Stripers. Brett Sears, Luis Vargas and Blake Burkhalter combined to complete a nine-inning shutout. Jacksonville’s only hit came in the third inning when Sears allowed a triple, but he stopped the runner from doing any damage and escaped the inning without giving up a run.

Sears was phenomenal that night. He pitched six innings, struck out 10 and walked only one batter. Vargas pitched two innings and Burkhalter handled the ninth. Together, the two relievers recorded four strikeouts without allowing a hit to close out the game.

The offense was silent for half of the game, but once it got going, it exploded. Gwinnett finished with 10 hits and eight runs, and David McCabe was responsible for most of the damage. He started the scoring in the sixth inning with a single that brought Jim Jarvis home. McCabe added a sacrifice fly in the eighth before putting a dagger into Jacksonville’s chances of a comeback with a grand slam in the ninth. He finished the night with six RBIs and capped off an incredible all-around performance for the Stripers.

The momentum carried over into Thursday’s game. Garrett Baumann delivered five scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing only four hits. McCabe, Lizandro Espinoza and Jim Jarvis all had productive nights at the plate. Jarvis reached base four times, scored three runs and drove in two, while Espinoza added a two-run double. McCabe followed his grand slam from the night before with a solo home run and later added a sacrifice fly, giving him eight RBIs across the two games. His home run was also his 20th of the season between Columbus and Gwinnett.

Friday was once again the pitching staff’s show. JR Ritchie had an incredible outing, pitching six innings with nine strikeouts. His only run allowed came from a solo home run in the first inning. After that, Ritchie settled in and kept Jacksonville off the board for the remainder of his outing.

The bullpen picked up right where Ritchie left off. Gwinnett’s relievers combined to pitch four innings, allowing three hits and one unearned run while striking out nine. The Stripers eventually pushed two runs across in the 10th inning and held on for a 3-2 victory.

Cedric De Grandpré took the mound Saturday and gave Gwinnett another strong performance. He pitched five innings, recorded eight strikeouts and allowed only two runs. Unfortunately, the bats went cold again and could not give him any run support, leaving De Grandpré with the loss in a 2-0 game. McCabe remained productive despite the loss, recording two of Gwinnett’s four hits and finishing 2-for-4 with a double.

Gwinnett left Jacksonville with a 4-2 series victory, and while McCabe was a big part of the offensive story, he was not the only hitter who had a productive week. Jim Jarvis collected four hits, with three going for extra bases, and drew six walks. The pitching staff was even more impressive, combining for a 1.29 ERA and 64 strikeouts across 49 innings. McCabe finished the week 7-for-23 with a double, two home runs, eight RBIs and a .942 OPS. After missing a large part of the season, he has made the most of the time he has had and continues to show the impact his power can bring to the lineup. With only one week remaining in Gwinnett’s season, performances like these give Braves fans one more reason to keep watching until the final game of the season.