BIRMINGHAM, AL – APRIL 24: Jordan Groshans #15 of the Columbus Clingstones is congratulated after hitting a home run during the game between the Columbus Clingstones and the Birmingham Barons at Regions Field on Friday, April 24, 2026 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Hannah Bachman/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
It was a bit of a weird day down on the farm as one team’s game got cut short due to technical difficulties, but there was plenty of action to go around. Let’s get into it.
(42-42) Gwinnett Stripes 0, (36-49) Durham Bulls 3
Jose Azocar, RF: 1-4
Jair Camargo, C: 1-2
Austin Gomber, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Blake Burkhalter, RP: IP, 3 H
Box Score
All in all, there wasn’t much to write home about with regards to Gwinnett on Friday as the Stripers were shutout and were held to just two hits in the process.
The lone two hits in this one came off the bat of Jose Azocar and Jair Camargo — both of whom tallied a single each in this one — while the Stripers were held off the scoreboard.
Austin Gomber got the start and while he wasn’t bad — giving up three runs across five innings — the lack of offense he got proved to be the difference-maker.
Blake Burkhalter did make an appearance in this one, tossing one scoreless inning despite giving up three hits in the frame to keep his ERA at 0.00.
(34-40) Columbus Clingstones 9, (45-34) Tennessee Smokies 1
Jordan Groshans, DH: 2-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Drew Compton, 1B: 2-5, HR, 3B, 2 RBI, R
Keshawn Ogans, 3B: 1-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB
Julio Robaina, SP: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K
Box Score
The offense will get most of the credit in this one, but the pitching staff also stepped up and showed out as Columbus dominated Tennessee on Friday by a 9-1 final.
Pacing the offense was Jordan Groshans, who homered not once, but twice in this one. The designated hitter’s first long ball came in the top of the sixth as he launched a solo shot — hit 14th of the season — to extend the Clingstones’ lead to 3-0 on the night.
But Groshans wasn’t done there, as he laced yet another solo shot in the eight inning to make it a 5-0 game in this one.
GROSHANS IS ON FIRE! 🔥@ValeroEnergy | #ClingtoColumbus pic.twitter.com/qzMTRxbDBq— Columbus Clingstones (@GoClingstones) July 4, 2026
Also participating in the home run fun was Drew Compton — who also tripled on Friday — who has been on a bit of a hot streak recently. It’s a short hot streak, but over the past three games, Compton has tallied 13 total bases, including two triples and a homer.
Meanwhile, Julio Robaina got the start on the mound and absolutely dominated across six innings of work.
Robaina managed to hold Tennessee scoreless on the night while holding the Smokies to just three hits and two walks, while striking out eight batters in the process.
Across eight appearances (seven starts) Robaina has posted an ERA of 2.48 in 36.1 innings pitched while striking out 36 batters along the way.
(39-38) Rome Emperors 1, (28-50) Jersey Shore BlueClaws 0
Eric Hartman, CF: 1-2, 2B, BB
Mason Guerra, DH: 1-2, 2B, R
Tate Southisene, SS: 0-1, 2 BB
Cade Kuehler, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Box Score
This one ended in weird fashion, as a power outage caused this one to be called after five innings. Thankfully, Rome was on top at the time of the outage, so the Emperors came away with a win to move to one game above .500 on the season.
Cade Kuehler got the start in this one and was rather excellent as he held Jersey Shore scoreless across five innings, scattering just three hits and issuing a pair of walks and striking out four as well.
Meanwhile at the plate, the Emperors tallied just two total hits, but it proved to be more than enough in the shortened game.
Eric Hartman and Mason Guerra both doubled in this one, while the former also walked and the latter plated the only run of the game as Guera scored on a wild pitch in the top of the third to give Rome the 1-0 lead which ultimately proved enough to carry them to victory.
“Juuuust a bit outside!”Mason Guerra capitalizes and Rome leads! pic.twitter.com/Fi3Yxif2oK— Rome Emperors (@GoEmperors) July 4, 2026
(44-35) Augusta GreenJackets 4, (31-47) Salem RidgeYaks 7
Alex Lodise, SS: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
Michael Martinez, DH: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
Conor Essenburg, RF: 1-4, 3B, R
Landon Beidelschies, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, BB, 6 K
Box Score
Augusta attempted to battle back from an early deficit in this one, but the GreenJackets ultimately came up short in the 7-4 loss.
Landon Beidelschies got the start in this one and put up somewhat of a decent outing. Across five innings of work, Beidelschies allowed four runs on six hits while also striking out six. While that was enough to keep his offense in the game — and the GreenJackets struggled to score until the latter part of this one.
Alex Lodise got the scoring started for Augusta by launching his 17th homer of the season — a solo shot — in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 4-1 game.
Alex Lodise has done it AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/6IsyNyO0ZC— Augusta GreenJackets (@GreenJackets) July 3, 2026
The GreenJackets tacked on again in the bottom of the seventh as Michael Martinez launched a two-run shot to make it a 5-3 deficit for Augusta.
Trailing 7-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Lodise came through again with an RBI, this time on a sacrifice fly, to make it a 7-4 game. However, that’s the only offense Augusta would get in this one as the GreenJackets ultimately came up short.
Also on the pitching front, Adiel Melendez, who came on in relief, tossed a pair of scoreless frames and struck out a pair of batters to lower his season ERA to 1.86. While he is older for the level at 24, it is encouraging to see for the lefty who could project as a potential bullpen piece at the big league level down the line.
(14-31) FCL Braves 3, (28-17) FCL Rays 7
Johan Rodriguez, 1B: 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, R
Elias Reyno, RF: 1-3, RBI
Wuilinyer Tovar, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K
Box Score
The FCL Braves came up short in this one by a 7-3 final.
Wuilinyer Tovar got the start and tossed five innings of two-run ball. Across those five innings of work, Tovar scattered five hits and gave up two walks while striking out six in the process.
At the plate, the Braves got a solid day at the plate from Johan Rodriguez, who homered, doubled and drove in a pair of runs to pace the offense. Rodriguez is currently carrying an OPS of .796, which leads the FCL squad thus far in the season.
Elias Reyno also drove in a run as well on the night.
(6-17) DSL Braves 7, (15-9) DSL Arizona Red 11
Elisandro Ramirez, LF: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Luis Fortunato, SS: 1-3, RBI, 2 R, BB
Edelson Cabral, 3B: 1-3, 2 RBI
Jesus Cova, SP: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 K
Box Score
Despite scoring seven runs on five hits, the DSL Braves ultimately came up short in the 11-7 final.
Jesus Cova got the start and only spun 2.2 innings of work while giving up a pair of runs and striking out two in the process. While that start wasn’t great, the DSL bullpen faltered tremendously, giving up seven runs in 5.1 innings on the day.
Meanwhile offensively, the DSL squad performed quite well despite the shortcomings of the pitching staff.
Elisandro Ramirez paced the offense as he launched his first professional home run while driving in a pair of runs and scoring twice on the day. Luis Fortunato (one RBI) and Edelson Cabral (two RBI) also played a large part in the DSL team’s day at the plate as well, contributing three of the team’s seven total runs driven in on the day.