From extra innings, to late-inning heroics, Friday’s slate of minor league games had plenty of action. Let’s dive into it all.
It was a disappointing night all-around for Gwinnett as the pitching staff didn’t do its job while the offense was rather stagnant in the Stripers’ loss.
Lucas Braun got the start and put up what was definitively his worst start of the 2025 campaign. In 5.1 frames of work, Braun gave up six runs (five earned) on five hits while issuing a walk and striking out six. While he did manage to get 14 swings and misses in the process, that doesn’t necessarily mean much when you give up a pair of homers on the night.
The biggest blow to Braun’s outing came in the second inning as he gave up a solo homer to Kemp Alderman and followed it up later in the inning by giving up a three-run shot to Jared Serna to give Jacksonville an early 4-0 lead that Gwinnett never could dig themselves out of.
Although, it wasn’t entirely his fault as his defense also didn’t do him any favors, as the Stripers committed a pair of errors on the night as well.
Offensively, while the score may reflect it was a somewhat solid night, it was the contrary for Gwinnett.
Scoring three runs on six hits, the only knock of major consequence came off the bat of Jose Azocar in the bottom of the second as he tallied a solo homer — at a staggering 108.7 MPH off the bat — to cut the deficit to 4-1 in the early going.
One other offensive performance of note was Jim Jarvis, who again went hitless on the night. It appears as though the shortstop may be coming back down to earth after a scalding start to the season.
While he did go 3-3 on Thursday night, Jarvis is just three for his last sixteen at-bats, during which he has struck out five times. He has, however, managed to draw at least one walk in each of his last nine games including Friday, so perhaps not all is lost and it’s simply just a bad stretch for Jarvis.
It took extra innings, but Columbus managed to scratch out a win against Birmingham on Friday.
Herick Hernandez got the start and it was another discouraging outing from the lefty as he again failed to make it beyond three innings for the second straight start. The main issue, as it always has been with Hernandez, has been his inability to throw strikes and when he does hit the zone, it’s often up which leaves him vulnerable to get knocked around.
Hernandez’ overall numbers are solid as he’s carrying a 2.84 ERA on the season. But the current trajectory he is on is worrisome and hopefully it’s just a blip on his radar and he can get his control taken care of.
At the plate, Columbus did just enough to get the job done.
David McCabe laced an RBI-single to put the Clingstones on the board in the first inning and the game went back-and-forth from that point forward.
However, the Clingstones got a significant boost from Jordan Groshans who, in the top of the ninth while trailing 3-2 with two outs, took a 1-0 pitch and crushed it over the left field wall to send the game into extra innings. It was Groshans’ fourth homer of the season for Columbus.
BOOM! 💥Groshans slams one out of the park to tie it up in the top of the 9th!@ValeroEnergy | #ClingtoColumbus pic.twitter.com/wdwoDvkBji
— Columbus Clingstones (@GoClingstones) April 25, 2026
Shay Schanaman came on in relief and tossed two innings of scoreless ball to keep Columbus in the game in the eighth and to send the game to the tenth as well. Schanaman struck out three while giving up just one walk in his two frames of work.
In the top of the tenth, Columbus capitalized on a Birmingham mistake, as Ambioris Tavarez — who came on to pinch-run — scampered home on a wild pitch to give the Clingstones a 4-3 lead. Tristin English later came around to score on an RBI-single off the bat of Cal Conley to provide an insurance run and extend the lead to 5-3.
Elison Joseph was called upon to get the save and did so despite giving up a hit and issuing a walk.