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5/21/2016
Cain Owns Braves
Atlanta Braves (18-20) 2 @ San Francisco (22-16) 3
San Francisco, CA - Stop me if you heard this one before. An Atlanta pitcher goes out & has a pretty decent day. Then the offense goes out & strands base runners EVERYWHERE... Things are becoming pretty repetitive for the Braves ballclub. It has gotten to the point that Andrelton Simmons is the sole source of all things offense related. That is not good. Shelby Miller took the mound for Atlanta to face the Giant's Matt Cain. Miller had a good day besides the bottom of the 2nd. That was not so good. Josh Hamilton who has been silent all series, found a pitch he liked & then was absolutely rude to it blasting a 438 ft HR to jump San Fran out to 1-0 lead. A little later Hunter Pence walked, Leonys Martin singled & then Brandon Crawford singled both home to put the score at 3-0. The Giants would never score again but they scored enough. Dian Toscano singled home Shelby Miller in the top of the 3rd to cut the lead to 2. Then in top of 6th Andrelton Simmons doubled with one out & Freddie Freeman finally came through with RISP with a 2 out RBI single. The Braves would get 2 more really good chances. In the top of the 7th Jace Peterson singled with one out. Pierzynski came in as a PH & singled to put runners on corners with 1 out. Mallex Smith then hit a short flyball to center. Atlanta elected to try Martin's arm which turned out to be poor decision as the speedy 2nd basemen was gunned down at home. Then finally in the top of the 9th Freddie Freeman opened the inning with a double. Then the Braves ineptitude entered it's final crescendo. Villanueva struck out. Makrakis struck out. And Jace Peterson finished strong with a weak groundout keeping the Braves losing streak alive. Tomorrow they will attempt to prevent being swept 2 straight series & salvage something on this West Coast road trip...
WP: Matt Cain (5-1) 8.0 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 6 K
LP: Shelby Miller (3-2) 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, BB, 5 K
S: Yusmeiro Petit(1) 1.0 IP, H, 2 K
Player of the Game: Matt Cain
3rd Pick Scouting
Each game report I am posting a scouting report of a guy that I am considering for my top 5 picks. All ratings are from my scout Brian Bridges
SP Cole Sands | Throws: Right | Age 18 | 6'3" 205 lbs | 70 POT
Stuff: 35/65 | Movement: 50/60 | Control: 30/55
Fastball: 45/65 | Curveball: 35/75 | Changeup: 25/55
Pitcher: 35 | Stamina: 55 | Hold Runners: 50
Brian Bridges Thoughts: Sands has the makings of a top-flight starter. Great potential. This kid could put up some serious strikeout numbers. Feisty, great temperatment, really goes after hitters. His breaking stuff is well above average, especially tough from the opposite side of the plate. Tends to overthrow under pressure, which makes his fastball straighten out & gets him into trouble. Projects to have average control. Everday guy, who often cleans up during the clubhouse poker games.
My Thoughts: This is Bridges guy. OSA has his potential at 22. The difference? Bridges sees elite potential in Sand's curveball. Like plus, plus stuff. I think he falls somewhere in between & can develop into a decent mid rotation type pitcher. In the 3rd round I am not looking for mid rotation. I will say tho with him not being so loved by other scouts he might still be there later. If come round 6-8 & he is still there? Then I am definitely taking him. Last year Tampa Bay took him with their 2nd round pick but were unable to sign him. He ended up going 10-4 with 2.72 ERA & 2.694 FIP in college. Not bad..
Minor League Review
Norfolk (26-16) 2 @ Gwinnett (26-18) 1
- SP Manny Banuelos L(3-3) 6.0 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 BB, 7 K --> Shelby Miller, AJ Cole & Alex Wood can relate
- SS Zach Cozart 2-4, 2B(2), RBI(1) (.182)
Mississippi (21-20) rained out
Carolina (20-22) 1 @ Winston-Salem (20-22) 9
- CF Joseph Daris 3-4, 2B(8), R (.374)
- 1B Tanner Krietmeier 1-4, RBI(13)
Charleston (24-11) 0 @ Rome (21-14) 1
- RP Jorge Zavala W(4-0) 2.0 IP, H, BB, 3 K (1.71 ERA) --> Guy's been solid in most stops in farm system
- CF Alex Verdugo 1-3, 2B(7), R (.230)
- 1B Alec Bohm 2-3, RBI(14) (.237)
MLB News
- Oakland's 2B Joe Wendle is out for at least 5 weeks with a sprained ankle
- Orioles 3B Manny Machado's hit streak came to an end after 21 games against the Royals
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