Brewers Minor League Link Report (7/30): Walk-Off Magic for Biloxi & Kyle Harrison Shines in a Home Run Derby in Appleton

[Ben Lepak]

Image courtesy of BrewerFanatic

Kyle Harrison returned to the mound in Appleton, where Braylon Payne hit a milestone. Biloxi's Mark Coley II called game in the 10th after Jaron DeBerry's fine outing, as Josiah Ragsdale had another multi-homer game. Both DSL squads pounded out victories, headlined by a multi-homer grand slam performance from Diego Frontado.

 

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Transactions: 

• Biloxi Shuckers activated RHP Ryan Birchard from the 7-day injured list.

 

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Game Action:

Nashville pre-game media notes
Charlotte (White Sox) 6, Nashville 4
Box Score

Via the Sounds, game details, and we encourage readers to always review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine:

Sounds Fall to Knights on Thursday Night 

Despite a spirited comeback effort after falling behind early, Nashville dropped a tight 6-4 decision to Charlotte in the third game of their series. Charlotte opened the scoring with three runs in the top of the first inning, with old friend Eric Haase hitting a bases-clearing double. However, the Sounds answered right back in the bottom half. Jeferson Quero chopped an RBI single to score Brock Wilken, and Darrien Miller followed with an RBI double to quickly cut the deficit to one. Check out Miller’s double here, courtesy of the Sounds X account:

Colton Gordon made his third start with Nashville since coming over in a trade from Houston. Gordon worked five innings with three earned runs and five strikeouts. After the early damage, Gordon set down 12 of the next 14, allowing just a bunt single and a batter to reach by error.

Wilken stayed locked in at the plate, roping an RBI double in the second inning to tie the game, before driving in Eduardo Garcia on a fourth-inning fielder's choice to briefly give Nashville a 4-3 lead. Here’s the double:

The advantage slipped away in the top of the sixth once Gordon was pulled. Haase struck his second major blow of the night, launching a go-ahead two-run home run off Lyon Richardson to put the Knights back on top, 5-4. Nashville put immediate pressure on the Charlotte bullpen in the bottom half of the frame after Luis Matos doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch, but the Sounds were unable to cash in with the equalizer after Tyler Black and Luke Adams were set down in order.

Charlotte extended its cushion to 6-4 with a solo home run in the top of the ninth off position player Ethan Murray, but the Sounds refused to go quietly in their final turn at bat. Down to their final out in the bottom of the ninth, Freddy Zamora and Miller drew back-to-back walks to bring the winning run to the plate. However, the late comeback threat was thwarted when Murray grounded into a game-ending force out at second base to seal the defeat.

RHP Coleman Crow (5-1, 4.22 ERA) will take the mound on Friday for the Sounds, who fell to 13-17 (56-49 overall) in the second half with the loss.

 

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Biloxi pre-game media notes
Biloxi 9, Montgomery (Rays) 8, F/10
Box Score

As always, you are encouraged to read the official round-up from the team’s site: 

Coley Plays Hero in Shuckers Wild Walk-Off Win

Biloxi’s wild back-and-forth series with Montgomery continued to be an emotional roller coaster on Thursday, with the Shuckers blowing an early 4-0 lead and then stealing the game on a walk-off homer.

Jaron DeBerry started for the Shuckers and was once again excellent, working 5.2IP with just one run and five strikeouts. Shuckers announcer Javik Blake had this note on DeBerry joining some rare company with 100 strikeout seasons at Biloxi:

DeBerry was squeezed a bit by a tight zone all night, as a few back door breaking balls seemed to catch the corner, only to be called balls by the home plate umpire. Multiple times in full counts DeBerry marched off the mound thinking he had strike three, including the last batter he faced on the night. DeBerry issued four free passes in total.

Josiah Ragsdale continued his torrid stretch of play, homering in his fourth consecutive game, first with this leadoff homer courtesy of the Shuckers X account:

Then Ragsdale added another blast later to give him 10 homers in the month of July, joining teammate Blake Burke with double digit homers this month:

David Garcia was the meat in between the Ragsdale homer sandwich:

However, the Shuckers bullpen could not hold the lead, allowing runs in each of the last four innings. Stiven Cruz had a particularly rough go. Despite the Shuckers providing Cruz with a two-run lead in the bottom of the 8^th with a Jesus Made double and Andrew Fischer sac fly, Cruz could not close the door.  Cruz first blew the save on back-to-back jacks in the 9^th, then was touched up for three more runs in the 10^th.

It looked like the Shuckers might be in for a painful loss trailing 8-5, but they showed their resilience in the bottom of the 10^th. With Burke starting the inning on second, Josh Adamczewski singled him home and brought the tying run to the plate. Marco Dinges, who had been 1-for-21 to start his time at AA, then singled to put runners at the corners for Mark Coley II. Coley II then crushed the first pitch he saw into the night sky into left to give Biloxi the dramatic walk-off victory:

The Shuckers remain first in the second half standings with an 18-12 record (53-42 overall). RHP Braylon Owens (1-1, 6.05 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound on Friday.

 

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Wisconsin pre-game media notes
Wisconsin 10, Lansing (A’s) 0
Box Score

Wisconsin Blasts Six Homers to Beat Lansing - Harrison pitches 5-2/3 scoreless innings on rehab assignment from Milwaukee

Wisconsin pummeled Lansing into submission on Thursday night behind Kyle Harrison’s excellent return to action and six home runs from the Rattlers’ offense.

Harrison worked 5.2IP scoreless with one hit, three walks and five strikeouts. Harrison looked sharp, needing just 68 pitches (44 strikes) to get through his outing. From there, the bullpen retired nine of the final 10 batters, limiting Lansing to just one hit on the night.

The Rattlers’ YouTube page has all the highlights for you here:

 

Braylon Payne went yard two more times, giving him 20 on the season, and reaching the 20-20 milestone in just 66 games. We’ve seen Payne hit plenty of homers in bunches this season, with another hot stretch could he join Fischer and (presumably) Burke in the 30-homer club yet this season? He may have an outside chance at it, especially if Payne stays stuck in High A.

Eric Bitonti and Tayden Hall each homered and doubled on the night Luiyin Alastre hit his first homer of the season and added a steal. Daniel Dickinson hit his fifth home run of July and now sports a .315/.479/.616 slash line in the month.

You can also check out the postgame podcast with comments from Harrison, who indicates this will be his only rehab start, here:

Wisconsin is now 17-15 (51-43 overall) in the second half and 3.5 games back of first. RHP Jayden Dubanewicz (2-3, 5.24 ERA) toes the slab in game four of the series on Friday.

 

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Wilson pre-game media notes 
Fredericksburg (Nationals) 7, Wilson 3, F/10
Box Score

Warbirds Rally Falls Short in Extras - Nationals Pull Away Late

It was a hard-fought battle at Wilson Ballpark on Thursday night, but the Warbirds ultimately dropped a tough 7-3 decision to Fredericksburg in 10 innings.

The Warbirds struck first in what started as a tense pitching duel, breaking the scoreless tie in the bottom of the 5th when Frederi Montero slapped an RBI single to bring home Rylan Mills.

Andrew Healy started for Wilson and tossed 4.2 sparkling innings, allowing just one hit and two walks while matching a career-best with six strikeouts.

After the Nationals responded to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the 6th, Wilson immediately punched back. Brady Ebel sparked the rally with a clutch triple and was quickly brought home by a Juan Ortuno sacrifice fly to knot the game at 2-2.

The real drama came in the bottom of the 9th. Trailing 3-2 and down to their final outs, Alexander Frias ripped a massive triple to right field. Brailyn Antunez followed up with a clutch, game-tying RBI single to keep the Warbirds alive and force extra innings.

Unfortunately, the magic ran out in the 10th. The Nationals' bats exploded for four runs off reliever Enderson Mercado. Despite putting runners on in the bottom of the 10th, the Warbirds grounded into a game-ending double play, closing the book on a disappointing 7-3 finish.

Despite the loss dropping the Warbirds to a 15-16 second half record (51-46 overall), Wilson is just 2.5 games out of first place.  RHP Jarrette Bonet (6-5, 4.99 ERA) will look to right the ship on Friday when he takes the mound for Wilson.

 

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DSL Brewers Gold 10, DSL Rojos (Reds) 5
Box Score

The DSL Brewers Gold put together a dominant offensive performance to secure a decisive 10-5 victory over the DSL Rojos. The Brewers' lineup was relentless from the early innings, racking up 11 hits and jumping out to a commanding lead that they never surrendered. The Gold squad and now won four consecutive games and eight of their last 10.

The Brewers' bats caught fire in the top of the second inning with some clutch two-out hitting. Francisco De Marchena broke the ice with an RBI single to left field, scoring Matthew Moses, and Jefer Lista immediately followed suit with an RBI single of his own to make it 2-0. The Brewers seized control in the top of the third when Moses crushed a three-run homer to left field, bringing home Moises Salazar and Josue Rodriguez to extend the lead to 5-0.

On the mound, Paul Hoff (5IP 4H 2R 0ER 1BB 6K) set the tone, earning the win to improve his pristine record to 5-0 with a stellar 2.08 ERA, keeping the Rojos off balance just enough to let the offense go to work.

Any hopes of a Rojos’ comeback were dashed late in the game when the Brewers added some crucial insurance runs. In the top of the seventh, Osiris Ramirez launched a two-run bomb to left field, scoring Ricki Moneys and stretching the lead to 9-3. Santiago Garcia later added a double to close the Brewers’ scoring for the day. Garcia paced the Brewers with three hits on the day and now has 17 hits and 10 walks in 15 games in July.

The win moves the Brewers Gold to a strong 25-16 record on the season and first place standing in the DSL Central Division.

 

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DSL Brewers Blue 11, DSL CLE Goryl 5
Box Score

The DSL Brewers Blue bats exploded on Thursday as they cruised to a dominant 11-5 victory over DSL CLE Goryl. The Brewers' offense relied on a spectacular display of power hitting to put the game out of reach early and secure the win.

The star of the game was Diego Frontado, who put on a multi-home run clinic. After scoring the game's first run on a Leanders Matos sacrifice fly in the first inning, Frontado flexed his muscle in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer to left field to make it 3-0 Brewers. Frontado then delivered the knockout punch in the fifth inning, crushing a grand slam to center field to give the Brewers a 10-3 lead. Frontado has been on fire of late and now has a an 11-game hit streak and seven-game RBI streak.

Frontado had plenty of help from a lineup that banged out eight hits and drew eight walks. Sebastian Franeites capped off a five-run third inning with a three-run blast to right field, while Matos added a solo shot of his own to cap off another five-run surge in the fifth. Matos is now third in DSL play with 44 RBI and Frontado sits 11th with 37 RBI. Both players are sporting 1.000+ OPS on the season.

On the mound, Steven Duran worked around six walks and three hits in five innings to earn the win. The 18-year-old righthander was victimized by a two-out fielding error that opened the floodgates for a three-run (all unearned) rally.

The Brewers Blue are now 23-19 on the season.

 

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All four full season squads are back in action on Friday night. In DSL play, the Gold and Blue squads will face off in a Friday matinee.

 

Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores
Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth
Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth

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