IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

R-Braves Game Notes

Published on August 10, 2007 under International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


Richmond Braves (67-50) at Charlotte Knights (53-66)

Game #117, Road Game #62 ♦ Friday, August 10, 2007 ♦ 7:15 p.m. ♦ Knights Stadium ♦ Fort Mill, SC

RHP Trey Hodges (5-3 4.05) vs. RHP Lance Broadway (6-6 4.01)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Is the fourth of a four-game series (Richmond has won the first three), the 12th of 16 meetings and the eighth of eight at Knights Stadium. Richmond is 7-4 vs. the Knights, 4-3 at Knights Stadium. The Braves are 132-126 all-time against Charlotte. The 30th of 48 games vs. South Division clubs; the 16th of 24 on the road. Richmond is 18-11 vs. the South, 10-5 on the road. It is the fourth of a four game road trip (the Braves are 3-0). The Braves lead the South Division by three and a half games over second-place Durham.

LAST NIGHT'S GAME: The Braves beat the Knights 9-8 at Knights Stadium Thursday. The Braves lost a 6-0 lead but rallied back to earn their sixth straight win. Richmond erupted for four runs in the in the first inning. Brayan Pena knocked in a run with a single and Barbaro Canizares smashed a three-run homer. The Braves added a run in the third on an RBI double by Doug Clark. The Braves pushed their lead to 6-0 in the fourth on a home run by Jonathan Schuerholz. Charlotte rallied back with five runs in the home half. Donny Lucy drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run and ex-Brave Jason Bourgeois followed with a grand slam to trim the Braves lead to 6-5. The Knights tied the game in the fifth on an RBI ground ball by Thomas Collaro. Pena scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to put the Braves back in front but the Knights again tied the game in the bottom half on a run-scoring single by Tomas Perez. Richmond moved back in front to stay with two runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Pena and Canizares. The Knights added a run in the ninth on a sac fly by Earl Snyder. Jeff Bennett picked up the win. Carlos Vazquez took the loss. Royce Ring notched a save. Pena had four of the Braves 15 hits. Bourgeois had three hits for the Knights.

LUCKY SEVEN?: Richmond has won six straight games. That streak equals the Braves second longest of the season. Richmond won six straight games from July 23-27 and won a season high eight straight from April 25-May 3. The Braves are a season high 17 games over .500. The last time the Braves were 17 games over .500 was the last day of the 2004 season when they finished at 79- 62. The last time the Braves were 18 or more games over was the end of the 1994 season when they finished with four straight wins and a record of 80-61. That club won the Governors Cup championship. The Braves are hitting .359 in their last six games and have scored 48 runs over that span. The Braves have 80 hits in their last six games.

WE'RE GOIN' STREAKIN': Brandon Jones has hits in 10 straight games (19-37 .514). He has six straight multiple-hit games. He has raised his batting average during the streak from .186 to .321. Barbaro Canizares has four straight three hit games. He is 12 for his last 17 (.706). Canizares is hitting .613 in eight games in August. Gregor Blanco has a four game hitting streak (8-18 .444). He also has six hits in his last 10 at bats. Jonathan Schuerholz has hits in three straight games (4-12 .333) and the last six games he's started (7-20 .350 with three home runs). Brent Lillibridge has a three game hitting streak (5-13 .385). He stole his 100th career base last night. Larry Bigbie has scored runs in three straight games.

ON THE LEADER BOARD: The Braves lead the IL in batting average (.272), ERA (3.63), most shutouts (13), and fewest home runs allowed (76). They are second in steals (124). The Braves are tied for the league lead in fielding percentage (.983) and have the fewest errors (73). Richmond leads the IL in percentage of opponents caught stealing (66-151 .437). Gregor Blanco is tied for third in the league in runs scored (66).

IKER TO WIN: The Braves are 30-12 (.714) in games in which Iker Franco starts at catcher. He nailed two more opponents trying to steal last night and is 23-47 for the year (.489). He does not have enough games played to qualify for the league lead. Corky Miller, now with Atlanta, leads the IL in that category (36-77 .468). Braves pitchers have a 3.29 ERA when throwing to Franco.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Braves have the IL's best road record (36-25 .590). Toledo's Fifth Third Field is the only park in the IL in which the Braves have a sub-.500 record (1-5). Following tonight the Braves play 16 of their final 24 games at home. The Braves are one of six IL clubs with better records on the road than at home (the other five are all in the North Division).

Upcoming Milestones PLAYER MILESTONE NEEDS FOR

Larry Bigbie Career hits 17 500

Career RBI 1 200

Gregor Blanco Career runs 12 500

Career steals 4 200

Kevin Barry Career K's 21 500

Doug Clark Career HR's 9 100

Career SB's 21 200

Iker Franco Career hits 39 500

Jonathan Johnson Career K's 39 700

Brayan Pena Career hits 3 200

2007 Richmond Vs. Charlotte

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6-4 vs. the Knights

May

1 ♦ @ RIC W 4-0

2 ♦ @ RIC W 4-0

3 ♦ @ RIC W 5-4

4 ♦ @ RIC L 3-6

7 ♦ @ CHR L 3-4

8 ♦ @ CHR W 4-3

9 ♦ @ CHR L 5-9

10 ♦ @ CHR L 1-12

August

7 ♦ @ CHR W 9-4 (10)

8 ♦ @ CHR W 7-2

9 ♦ @ CHR W 9-8

10 ♦ @ CHR 7:15 p.m.

25 ♦ @ RIC 7:00 p.m.

26 ♦ @ RIC 2:00 p.m.

27 ♦ @ RIC 7:00 p.m.

28 ♦ @ RIC 7:00 p.m.

UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES

Saturday, August 11 vs. Columbus 7 PM RHP Blaine Boyer vs. LHP Chris Michalak

Sunday, August 12 vs. Columbus 2 PM RHP Kevin Barry vs. RHP Colin Balester

Monday, August 13 vs. Columbus 7 PM LHP Jo-Jo Reyes vs. RHP Jason Bergman

Tuesday, August 14 vs. Columbus 7 PM LHP Dan Smith vs. TBA

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International League Stories from August 10, 2007


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