G-BRAVES BEAT: Injured Braves make appearances in Gwinnett

Coolray Field has been the place for rehabs lately. Martin Prado made an appearance on Monday while rehabbing his fractured right pinky. He went 1-for-4 with a single in an 11-9 win over the Norfolk Tides.

Kenshin Kawakami started the next game against the visiting Tides and had a tough first few innings. In the first, he gave up a run and had a wild pitch. In the second, he gave up a long home run and things looked bleak for the 35-year-old right-hander. He then made a great catch on a ball hit right back to the mound and after that he seemed to settle down. “That play woke me up and I was able to lock in after that,” Kawakami said. “The first couple innings, I was having trouble throwing strikes. In the third and fourth innings, I started to settle in and was able to pitch to my capabilities.”

Another pitcher that was rehabbing was reliever Eric O’Flaherty. He has been battling mononucleosis since July 10, but it looked like he was back to full strength. “I feel good, I feel like I did before I got sick,” said O’Flaherty. He came in to relieve Kawakami and pitched two scoreless innings. He struggled with the first two batters, giving up an error and a walk. The lefty was able to induce a double play and get out of the inning unscathed. O’Flaherty was flawless in the sixth, striking out the side. “I was searching for it in the first inning, but after that double play I was able to regroup and the next inning everything went pretty good,” said O’Flaherty. He pitched two innings allowing no runs and no hits, with one walk and three strikeouts.

The G-Braves weren’t able to provide much run support for the pitchers. They did tie the game at 2-2 in the seventh, but gave the game right back to Norfolk in the eighth by giving up two runs. A throwing error by catcher J.C. Boscan in that inning proved to be costly and Gwinnett lost 4-2.

A win would have given the team a .500 record for the first time since the middle of May. Unfortunately the G-Braves record is now 61-63 and they sit 8 ½ games back of wild-card leading Louisville with only 19 games left.

On a brighter note, Barbaro Canizares was named the International League player of the week for 8/16-8/22. It was a well deserving award after he hit .458 with two home runs and five RBIs in eight games last week. The all-star is leading the league in hitting with a .336 average and should win the batting title this year.

The team will have a day off before they travel to Charlotte to start a home-and-home series with the Knights. Charlotte will come to Gwinnett for three games to start the last home stand of the year for the G-Braves.