Milwaukee Brewers Minors: Missions & Shuckers Sweep the Weekend

The Milwaukee Brewers’ Minor League clubs won five out of their eight games this weekend with two teams sweeping their contests on Saturday and Sunday. Mother Nature had a hand in preventing a sweep.

Triple-A

San Antonio Missions (40-24) vs Las Vegas Aviators (34-30)

The Milwaukee Brewers Triple-A affiliate started the weekend with a late come from behind win, scoring all five runs in the eighth and ninth innings in a 5-2 victory over the Aviators on Saturday. Down 2-0 after the fifth inning, San Antonio finally got on the board with a two-run single by Tyler Saladino and an RBI-single by David Freitas that gave them the lead. Milwaukee Brewers top prospect Keston Hiura added a two-run homer in the ninth for insurance.

Six different Missions had a hit apiece in the game while seven recorded a walk. On the mound, Thomas Jankins gave up two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings in the no decision. Jay Jackson struck out four over 2 1/3 innings of no-hit ball to end the game and improve to 3-1. His ERA dropped to 1.21 for the year.

Sunday’s game saw Las Vegas take the first lead once again with a run in the second. They were shut down after that, however, and San Antonio scored four unanswered en route to a 4-1 win.

Starter Bubba Derby gave up just the one run over six innings to even out his record at 3-3 on the season.

Jake Hager tied the game in the fifth with an RBI-single that scored Jacob Nottingham. In the very next inning, Maurico Dubon swatted a solo shot for his eighth of the year and 2-1 lead. Just for good measure, Nottingham added two more runs in the ninth with a two-run double.

Nottingham led the way in hitting for the Missions on Sunday with a 2-for-4 day, with both hits being doubles. Of Nottingham’s seven hits since returning from his major league assignment, five of them have been doubles.

Double-A

Biloxi Shuckers (38-25) vs Pensacola Blue Wahoos (36-27)

The Shuckers gave up just six hits and two runs on Saturday in pulling through for a 5-2 win over the Blue Wahoos. Johan Belisario led the way in giving up just a run over five innings to keep his season record perfect at 6-0. Luke Barker gave up his first earned run since April, but still picked up his eighth save of the year.

Back to back bases loaded walks to Trent Grisham and Jake Gatewood in the fifth inning put Biloxi in front for the day. The Shuckers added three more in the eight on a two-run ground rule double by Dillon Thomas and an RBI-double by Max McDowell. Thomas and McDowell led the Shuckers with two hits each.

The Milwaukee Brewers Double-A affiliate kept up the stingy pitching on Sunday with yet another Trey Supak gem. The righty gave up just two hits and struck out eight over seven shutout innings. Cody Ponce sealed the shutout over the final two and the Shuckers finished the weekend with an 8-0 win.

Thomas had the loudest bat on the day, bashing a three-run homer in the second and finishing 3-for-4 with a run and a season-high five RBI. Patrick Leonard also went 3-for-4 and scored a run. Grisham, McDowell, and Cooper Hummel each knocked in runs of their own for Biloxi. Luis Aviles Jr tore up the base paths, scoring two of the Shuckers’ runs and stealing four bases on the day.

Class A Advanced

Carolina Mudcats (35-27) vs Salem Red Sox (20-40)

Dylan File threw seven solid innings on Saturday night, giving up six hits and two runs which propelled the Mudcats to a 7-3 win over the Red Sox. After the game it was announced that the right-hander would be promoted to Double-A Biloxi.

Payton Henry started the scoring in the first, reaching on an error by the shortstop that saw Ryan Aguilar score. After falling behind 2-1 in the top of the third, Carolina jumped back in front in the bottom of the inning on RBI by Tristen Lutz, Mario Feliciano, and Henry for a 4-2 lead.

The Milwaukee Brewers High-A affilaite padded the lead with a run in the sixth from a Devin Hairston RBI-single and yet two more RBI by Henry in the seventh, this time a two-run double. Henry finished the night 2-for-3 with a run and three RBIs. The Red Sox turned up one more run in the ninth, but Clayton Andrews was called in to strike out the final batter to earn his ninth save and lock down the win.

Carolina was gearing up for a comeback on Sunday afternoon. After being down 2-0 on two solo home runs by the Sox, Feliciano hit a run-scoring double in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 2-1. Unfortunately, Mother Nature stepped in and delayed the game with some rain. After 52 minutes, the umpires apparently decided enough was enough and called the game, handing Salem a 2-1 victory.

Nelson Hernandez took the hard luck loss, giving up just the two runs on the two solo shots, six hits total, over six innings. Six Mudcats had a single hit and Andrews, who was playing center field on Sunday after his collecting his save the night before, scored the only run for the team.

Class A

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (29-33) vs Beloit Snappers (24-37)

Two runs on a Gabriel Garcia homer were all that the Timber Rattlers could muster on Saturday as they were defeated 5-2 by the Snappers to start the weekend. Reese Olson took the loss, giving up three runs in just 2 2/3 innings.

The Milwaukee Brewers Single-A affiliate had only three other hits besides that homer, singles by Brice Turang, Korry Howell, and Antonio Pinero. The Timber Rattlers did walk seven times – Chad McClanahan, Je’Von Ward, and Howell had two each. Howell added his fifth steal of the year to go along with the hit and two walks.

The power outage got worse on Sunday. The Timber Rattlers were only able to push one run across and the Snappers took advantage late as they handed Wisconsin a 2-1 loss to end the weekend.

No one scored for either side until the sixth when Turang, who was added to MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects at #100 this weekend, hit a one-out single to score Connor McVey. Wisconsin tried to hold on but in the eighth inning, Anthony Bender, who inherited runners on second and third, uncorked a wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score and then gave up a run-scoring ground out that knocked home what would be the game-winner for Beloit.

Adam Hill did what he could to put Wisconsin in a position to win. He gave up just three hits and two walks in six innings of scoreless ball and added four strikeouts. Turang and McVey led the way for the Timber Rattlers with 2-for-3 outings for each. McVey also had two of Wisconsin’s five stolen bases.