NORTH AUGUSTA, SC: John Gil turned upon the first pitch of inning number six and speared it just inside the left field foul pole, giving Augusta a lead they never lost in a 5-2 defeat of the Carolina Mudcats Wednesday night, July 30.
The contest began with heavy anticipation, as Milwaukee and Atlanta’s top organizational prospects squared off in shortstop Jesus Made and pitcher Cam Caminiti.
The two matched up in the second at bat of the game, and Caminiti earned roaring approval from the home crowd with an emphatic strikeout of Made.
After Caminiti’s scoreless first, Augusta manufactured an early run three batters into their first chance to score. Eric Hartman led off with a single, and stole second and third with Gil at bat. Owen Carey yanked a chopper behind first, and Hartman dashed home for the lead.
The run would be the only one notched against Travis Smith, who cruised through five total innings with no further damage.
Caminiti grinded his way through four scoreless innings, tallying seven strikeouts and retiring Made in their second and final meeting, but a plethora of long at bats forced him from the game shy of the 5th.
He was supplanted by Jhonly Taveras, making his Single-A debut against the league’s top offense.
Taveras began his GreenJackets career a bit shakily, and Carolina took advantage to tie the game. Josh Adamczewski worked a one-out walk, and a Made single was followed by a two-out walk of Eric Bitonti to load the bases.
With Jose Anderson at the bat, Taveras buried a fastball that got to the backstop, scoring Adamczewski from third. Anderson worked a walk but Taveras righted the ship to keep the game tied.
The Mudcats sent Enderson Mercado to the mound for the 6th, and he was promptly greeted by Gil’s homer to hand Augusta the lead back on one pitch.
The Jackets would show no mercy after the solo shot, loading the bases on a hit by pitch, walk, and single with one out. Colin Burgess skied a sac fly to deep center that easily scored one run, but Anderson overthrew the third baseman in a double play bid, with the ball hopping into the dugout to score a second man.
With Augusta back in front, Jackson Dannelley replaced Taveras and worked around a two out walk and single to keep Carolina at bay.
The GreenJackets secured an insurance run in the 7th on a two-out single from Isaiah Drake, and Juan Sanchez worked around a leadoff home run in the 9th to shut down Carolina and ensure victory.
With each side having picked up a win in the first two games of the series, Augusta and Carolina head to game three of the week tomorrow at SRP Park.
Jeremy Reyes will start for Augusta, with Wande Torres set to go for Carolina. Both starters have been very solid when throwing strikes, which will be a key factor to watch Thursday night, July 31.
