The Gwinnett Braves resumed a series that started back on May 8 against the Syracuse Chiefs with two mini doubleheaders on Thursday and Friday.
The first game that was suspended by rain resumed during the top of the 5th inning with two outs and the G-Braves leading 4-2. Gwinnett played the role of the road team because the original game started in Syracuse. In another strange scheduling anomaly, Tim Gustafson, the pitcher that started the original contest, picked up where he left off in the fifth. It just happened to work out that way because it was his turn in the rotation. He went two more innings and allowed eight hits and three runs in six innings pitched. Mitch Jones hit a two-run homer in the seventh and the G-Braves would go on to win the game, 6-3.
The second game was scheduled to go seven innings and started about 30 minutes later, with Gwinnett back as the home team. Starting pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes played a whale of a game. He went six innings, allowing three hits and no runs to go with eight strikeouts and two walks. He made two fantastic plays in the field, stopping two comebackers and promptly throwing to first for the out. Added to that he set up the G-Braves first run with a great bunt in the third inning that put runners on second and third. Wes Timmons and Diory Hernandez knocked in both of those runners to go up 2-0. Freddie Freeman hit a solo home run to finish the scoring and the G-Braves took the second game, 3-0.
After the game Reyes said, "Everything finally clicked. My curve ball was good." It was the first win of the season for the left hander. The second come backer looked like it might have hit his leg, but he didn’t let that stop him from picking the ball up and firing it to first.
"Yeah it got me on the thigh and I’ll have a pretty bad bruise, that’ll get better though. I saw it coming, it didn’t surprise me," Reyes said of the play. Shouts from his teammates showed how they felt about his performance on this night, "Jo-Jo’s tough"!
The double-header on Friday night was set up for both games to go seven innings again. Both of these games were nothing to write home about for the G-Braves.
In the first game they were nearly no-hit by Syracuse pitcher Craig Stammen. He went the entire seven innings and allowed only two hits both of which came with two outs in the seventh. Left fielder Josh Anderson was able to break up the no-no with a single. Freddie Freeman then had a pinch-hit single, but that was all the G-Braves were able to muster. The game ended with Syracuse winning 5-0. Former Brave Pete Orr had an RBI and two runs scored.
The second game was a slight improvement for Gwinnett, but they still ended on the wrong end of things, 1-0. The G-Braves had five hits, but left eight runners on base. Wes Timmons 12-game hitting streak came to an end, but he managed to draw two walks. Starter Jose Ortegano pitched great, going six innings while allowing only two hits and one run. It was not enough to get the win though and the G-Braves were shutout and swept on this night.
Saturday’s game will feature the second rehab start for Jair Jurrjens. It will be interesting to see if he improves on his last start, which lasted less than three innings. He should get a bigger pitch count to work with. In the last start he was limited to 66 pitches.
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