To say that Friday was a good night for the Braves organization would be an understatement.
While the major league Braves came from behind to beat the Mets in 10 innings, three of the organization’s minor league affiliates – Triple-A Gwinnett, Double-A Mississippi, low Single-A Rome – all clinched playoff-series wins Friday night.
“It’s one of my proudest days as a member of the Braves organization,” general manager John Coppolella said, “to see us not only get a walk-off-win at the major league level, but also to get series-clinching playoff victories at three different minor league levels. Our fans should be excited for what will be a very bright future, and the experience our players are getting in the playoff environment cannot be replicated.”
Gwinnett scored a run in the eighth inning to beat Columbus, 5-4, and win the best-of-five series (3-1) to advance to the Governors’ Cup Finals.
Mississippi, with Lucas Sims striking out six in five innings, held Pensacola to four hits in a 4-2 win to take the best-of-five semifinal series (3-1). Rehabbing Braves outfielder Mallex Smith went 2-for-5 with a double.
And for Rome, top prospect Max Fried had a career-high 11 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings of a 4-1 win against Charleston for a best-of-three win (2-1) in their semifinal series. Third-base prospect Austin Riley went 2-for-4 with a double and drove in three of Rome’s four runs.
