IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

Braves Game Notes

June 1, 2007 - International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


Richmond Braves (30-20) @ Ottawa Lynx (24-26)

Game # 51, Road Game # 27 ♦ June 1, 2007 ♦ 6:05 PM ♦ Lynx Stadium ♦ Ottawa, ON

RHP Kevin Barry (1-2 3.94) vs. RHP Zach Segovia (1-5 4.34)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The first of a four game series and the first of eight meetings, four at Lynx Stadium. Richmond was 4-4 vs. Ottawa last season, 1-3 at Lynx Stadium. The Braves are 71-71 all-time vs. Ottawa. The 17th of 46 games vs. North Division clubs. Richmond is 8-8 vs. the IL North Division. The ninth of 20 vs. the North on the road. The Braves are 5-3 vs. the North on the road. The seventh game of a season-long 10- game road trip (Richmond is 3-3). The Braves are in first place in the South by six games over Durham.

LAST NIGHT'S GAME: The Braves beat the Rochester Red Wings 5-2 Thursday at Frontier Field. Richmond scored pairs of runs in the sixth and seventh innings to gain a split of the four game series. The Braves grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third when J.C. Holt knocked in a run with a ground out. The Wings tied the game in the bottom half on a bunt by Gil Velazquez that chased a run home. Richmond moved in front to stay in the sixth. Graham Koonce and Carlos Mendez knocked in runs with singles to give the Braves a 3-1 advantage. The Braves tacked on two more runs in the seventh. Gregor Blanco produced a run with a sacrifice fly and J.C, Holt collected his second RBI of the night with a single. The Wings picked up a run in the ninth on an RBI double by Garrett Jones. Manny Acosta earned the win with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. Dave Gassner took the loss. Mendez and Wes Timmons had two hits each for the Braves. Jones had two hits for the Red Wings.

AS THE ROSTER TURNS: The Braves Yunel Escobar has been promoted to Atlanta. He will join the A-Braves for tomorrow's game. Escobar, who was hitting .333, is the ninth R-Brave to earn a big league call-up this season. He will be replaced on the roster by INF Brent Lillibridge. Lillibridge hit .275 in 52 games with 14 steals for the M-Braves. Richmond placed INF Carlos Mendez on the Temporary Inactive List. Richmond signed RHP Ryan Baerlocher from the York Revolution of the Atlantic League. The Braves roster is again at 24 (12 pitchers, three catchers, five infielders, and four outfielders). The Braves have made 49 roster moves this season.

IKER FOR WINS: Iker Franco returned from the DL yesterday and picked up where he left off by catching a Braves win. Richmond is 14-1 in games started by Franco behind the plate. Braves pitchers have a 1.52 ERA when throwing to Franco and the Braves have note allowed more than three runs in any of his 15 starts. Franco has gunned down 12 of the 23 runners who've attempted to steal on him (.522). He has not played enough games to qualify to be listed amongst the league leaders in that category, but only two other IL catchers have thrown out a higher percentage of runners.

LEADING LIGHTS: The Braves lead the IL in team ERA (3.13). Braves pitchers also lead in shutouts (8) and in fewest home runs allowed (25). Yunel Escobar is sixth in the league in batting (.333). T.J. Bohn is tied for second in the IL in assists by an outfielder (6). The Braves are now third in the IL in percentage of opponents caught stealing (33-77 .429) Corky Miller is third (19-44, .432).

NUMBER CRUNCHING: Jeff Bennett has five straight scoreless appearances over ten innings. The Braves have a better record on the road (16-10) than at home (14-10). Richmond already has more wins over North Division clubs on the road (five) than they had all of last season (when they were 3-21 on the road vs. the North). The Braves are 25-0 when leading after seven innings. 30 FOR 50: The 2007 R-Braves are the first Richmond club to reach 30 wins at the 50 game mark since the 1985 club opened 30-20. The Braves are 3-9 in their last 12 games after setting a club record for best ever franchise start through 38 games (27-11). At one point in May the Braves had a 10 game lead in the South, the largest standings lead at any time in club history. Richmond played .500 ball in May (15-15) and the Braves enjoyed back to back .500 or better months for the first time since 2004.

UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES

Saturday, June 2 @ Ottawa 6:05 PM RHP Ryan Baerlocher vs. RHP Bubba Nelson

Sunday, June 3 @ Ottawa 1:05 PM LHP Dan Smith vs. LHP J.A. Happ

Monday, June 4 @ Ottawa 11:05 PM RHP Trey Hodges vs. LHP Eude Brito

Tuesday, June 5 vs. Pawtucket 7 PM RHP Jonathan Johnson vs. LHP Abe Alvarez

Check out the Gwinnett Stripers Statistics



International League Stories from June 1, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central