Milwaukee Brewers Minors: Grisham’s 4th Homer Not Enough

Milwaukee Brewers prospect Trent Grisham continued to impress since his promotion to San Antonio but it wasn’t enough to earn his team a win. Elsewhere, two strong starting pitching performances buoyed Wisconsin and Carolina to wins.

Triple-A

San Antonio Missions (50-31) vs Round Rock Express (47-33)

The Milwaukee Brewers Triple-A affiliate finished their series against the Express with a dud, collecting just four hits and giving up 12 in a 9-2 loss to Round Rock that gave the two teams a series split. Zack Brown needed 71 pitches to get through just two innings and gave up four runs, three earned, to take the loss and drop to 2-5 on the season.

Trent Grisham drove in all of the runs for the Missions in the game. His RBI-groundout in the first inning that scored Mauricio Dubon tied the game 1-1. In the eighth, he smacked his fourth homer as a Mission, a solo shot that accounted for the team’s other run.

Dubon had a triple after snapping his 17-game hit streak the night before. David Freitas and Cory Spangenberg had the other two San Antonio hits, both singles, with Freitas also adding two walks. Jay Jackson threw his sixth-straight scoreless outing to drop his ERA to 1.10 on the season.

Double-A

Biloxi Shuckers (45-34) vs Pensacola Blue Wahoos (42-37)

Pensacola scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to break a 3-all tie and the Shuckers dropped Friday night’s game 5-3 to the Blue Wahoos. Trey Supak gave up three runs over six innings and also served up two bombs in earning the no decision.

The two homers given up by Supak both came in the second and put the Shuckers in an early 3-0 hole. But the Milwaukee Brewers Double-A affiliate bounced back right away in the third. With C.J. Hinojosa batting and Max McDowell and Luis Aviles Jr. on first and second, a passed ball and wild pitch allowed both base runners to score. Afterward, Hinojosa ended up walking and moving to second on a passed ball himself with Jake Gatewood knocking him home with an RBI-single to tie the game.

Those would be the only runs scored in the game by the Shuckers, though. Eight of nine Biloxi players reached base on the night so there was plenty of action on the base paths. Unfortunately, the team also struck out 13 times and also left 13 runners on base. McDowell and Joantgel Segovia led the team with 2-for-4 nights.

Class A Advanced

Carolina Mudcats (44-34) vs Potomac Nationals (33-43)

Whether donning a jersey that says Carolina Mudcats, or one that says Pescados de Carolina like it did on Friday night, Noah Zavolas owns the Nationals. After pitching a shutout against them last weekend, Zavolas gave up just a run over seven innings in a no decision against them on Friday, which was good enough for a 4-2 victory.

Ryan Aguilar put the Milwaukee Brewers High-A affiliate up to start with an RBI-single that scored Julio Garcia in the third. After Potomac tied it in the top of the fourth, Payton Henry put Carolina back up with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, his ninth of the year. The Nationals tied it once more in the eighth before a Tristen Lutz RBI-single and a sacrifice fly by Henry put Carolina on top for good.

Rodrigo Benoit pitched a scoreless ninth for his 11th save of the year. Garcia, Henry, and Aguilar each had two hits in the game. Wes Rogers reached base three times, going 1-for-2 with two walks and also scoring the run on Lutz’s run-scoring single.

Class A

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (37-40) vs Cedar Rapids Kernels (42-36)

Scott Sunitsch turned in his second straight solid start, giving up a run over 6 2/3 innings and improving to 6-7 and the Timber Rattlers also earned a 4-2 victory over the Kernels on Friday. Sunitsch has now given up one earned run or less in five of his last six games. Wisconsin took the series over Cedar Rapids three games to one.

The Milwaukee Brewers Single-A affiliate took the lead in the third on an RBI-single by Je’Von Ward who later scored on Brice Turang‘s sacrifice fly. David Fry added his own RBI-single in the fifth to put Wisconsin up by three. A bases loaded walk in the ninth to Connor McVey rounded out the Timber Rattler scoring.

Fry had a double and a walk to go along with the single while Yeison Coca had a pair of singles. Turang finished 0-for-3, but had a walk and scored on the RBI-single by Fry. Turang also added his 18th stolen base while McVey stole his ninth of the year.

Rookie Advanced

Rocky Mountain Vibes (5-8) vs Orem Owls (6-8)

The Milwaukee Brewers Rookie League affiliate finally broke their seven-game losing streak on Friday night and they did it in walk off fashion. Tied at four in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and Nick Egantuk on second after being hit by a pitch and advancing on a passed ball, Antonio Pinero doubled home the winning run to pull off a walk off 5-4 win, their first ever home win.

Micah Bello had a two-run triple in the eighth and added a double to finish 2-for-3 with a run scored as well. Jess Williams had an RBI-single in the first and finished 2-for-4 while also adding a double. Bryan Torres had an RBI-double in the eighth that tied the game and set the stage for Pinero’s heroics.