In a matchup of two former Atlanta Braves' teammates, Norfolk starter Jair Jurrjens worked 6.1 innings of one-run baseball to lead the Tides (49-43) to a 4-3 victory over rehabbing right-hander Brandon Beachy and the Gwinnett Braves (39-54) on Tuesday night at Coolray Field.
Jurrjens (W, 6-6) was on his game, allowing a run on nine hits, walking none and striking out two to pick up his first career win against the G-Braves, a club he last pitched for in 2012.
On the other side, Beachy (L, 0-2) got off to a rocky start, walking Xavier Avery on four-straight pitches to start the game. After Avery stole second base, the right-hander gave up back-to-back doubles to Henry Urrutia and Danny Valencia as the Tides took a 2-0 lead.
"I felt a little too good out of the pen," said Beachy about the first inning. "First batter, you get a little too amped up. You can't really simulate that in the pen. After the first batter, I gave up a couple of doubles, but both of those were on pitches I was happy with. They were in decent spots and they did pretty much what I wanted them to do, but they were hit hard."
After a shaky first inning, Beachy would go on to toss two scoreless innings to end his first rehab start since June 13. He worked 3.0 innings total, yielding two runs on three hits, walking one and striking out one. Beachy threw 45 pitches, 29 strikes.
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Making his case to be noticed was Lynchburg's Tuesday starter, Jarrett Miller. Orginally a reliever when he was drafted in the 21st round in 2011, Miller was converted to a starter midway through the 2012 campaign.
As a setup man, Miller put up dazzlng strikeout/walk ratios. In 2011, working 35 pro innings after his season at UNC-Greensboro, he struck out 54 while walking 21. Working only 50 innings in '12, he had 54 strikeouts in 50 innings.
This year, having made 15 starts and already at a career high 92 innings, Miller bounced back from a dead-arm period in June to have had two starts in July without allowing an earned run. Miller (6-5) allowed a two-out single to Francisco Lindor with two outs in the first inning. Miller did hit three batters and walk one in the game, but Carolina (8-10, 30-58) would not get another hit in the game.
The Hillcats (5-11, 41-44) were shut out in game one of the series but wasted no time getting on the board on Tuesday. Matt Lipka led off the first inning with a single then was immediately driven in by Hyams, who picked up his first extra base hit as a Hillcat with an RBI-double to make it 1-0.
Last week in Zebulon, NC four unearned runs charged to Miller wound up costing the Hillcats the game. Lynchburg got some retribution on Tuesday when they scored three unearned runs in the third inning to pad their lead.
Tuesday's start: seven innings, one hit, one walk four strikeouts, no runs. Miller is a righty, 6-1, 195.
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Ronan Pacheco, who was a late addition to the Carolina League all-star team, has been promoted to Class AA Mississippi. The M-Braves' pitching has been threadbare of late; in the upcoming series against Chattanooga, three of the five Mississippi starters are indy league free agent signings.
Carlos Perez, another pitcher who has had a roller-coaster of a career, has been moved up to Lynchburg.
TUESDAY'S SCORES
CLASS AAA
Norfolk 4, Gwinnett (39-54) 3
LP: Beachy (0-2) 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (45 P).
Poveda 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Norfolk WP: Jurrjens (6-6) 6.1 IP, 9 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (92 P)
Gartrell 3-5, 2 2B; Carrithers 3-4, 2B, R, SB; Gosselin 1-3, RBI, SB; Mejia 2-5, HR (22nd), RBI.
CLASS AA
Mississippi (7-12), idle.
ADVANCED CLASS A
Lynchburg (5-10) 4, Carolina 0
WP: J.Miller (6-5) 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K. Perez (promoted) 1 IP, 0 H, 1 K.
Lipka 2-5, 2 R; Hyams 1-3, 2B, RBI; Elander 2-4, 2 RBI; Rohm 2-4, RBI; E. Reyes 1-4, R, SB; Skinner 2-4, 2B.
CLASS A
Lakewood 5, Rome (6-10) 3
LP: W. Perez (5-4) 4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Fitzgerald 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K.
Peraza 2-5, 2 RBI, SB (31); Kalenkowsky 2-4, R; Anselment 2-4, 3B.
SHORT-SEASON ROOKIE
GCL Braves (5-7) 6, @ GCL Astros 4
SP: Caicedo 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
WP: Schils (1-0) 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. Holmes (Save, 1) 1 IP, 1 H.
Murphy 2-3, 2 RBI; V. Reyes 2-3, 2 R (.364); Sears 2-4, 2B; Harper 1-4, RBI; Manwaring 1-2, R (.500).
DSL Braves (13-15) @ DSL Reds, 10:30
SP: TBA.
Danville (8-9) 7, Bristol 3
WP: Flores (1-1) 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K.
Lien 1-4; Camargo 4-5, 2B, 3B, RBI, 2 R; R; De La Rosa 2-5, R, RBI; Brown 2-4, 2B, R, RBI; Luna 3-5, R, RBI; Caratini 2-4, R, RBI.
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