Shaw Steals The Show

Rome Braves @ Columbia Fireflies

June 14, 2016

Mike Soroka @ Joe Shaw

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Rome	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	5	0
Columbia	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	X	6	11	1

W: Shaw (4-4, 4.06 ERA); L: Soroka (1-6, 2.92 ERA); Save: Missigman (1)

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Joe Shaw (W, 4-4, 4.06 ERA) – 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 2B, 6 TB, 2 BB, 9 K (5 K/Sw), 1 GIDP, 9 GB: 2 FB: 4 LD: 1 PU, 98 Pitches (63 Strikes), 13 Swinging, 17 Called, 13.3% SwStr, 28.3% Whiff/Swing, 14 Pitches/IP, 28 BF

Craig Missigman (S, 1, 3.00 ERA) – 2 IP, 2 BB, 4 K (2 K/Sw), 2 GB, 29 Pitches (17 Strikes), 5 Swinging, 8 Called, 17.2% SwStr, 55.6% Whiff/Swing, 14.5 Pitches/IP, 8 BF

Batters

RF - Kevin Kaczmarski - 1-4, 1 RBI, 2.75 Pitches/PA

DH - David Thompson - 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 K, 15.4% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 3.25 Pitches/PA

3B - Luis Ortega - 2-4, 1 RBI, 20% SwStr, 33.3% Whiff/Swing, 2.5 Pitches/PA

1B - Dash Winningham - 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 K, 28.6% SwStr, 50% Whiff/Swing, 3.5 Pitches/PA

SS - Milton Ramos - 1-4, 1 R, 3 K, 29.4% SwStr, 45.5% Whiff/Swing, 4.25 Pitches/PA

LF - Joe Tuschak - 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 CS, 21.4% SwStr, 37.5% Whiff/Swing, 3.5 Pitches/PA

C - Tyler Moore - 2-4, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4.8% SwStr, 14.3% Whiff/Swing, 5.25 Pitches/PA

CF - Ivan Wilson - 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB, 11.8% SwStr, 40% Whiff/Swing, 4.25 Pitches/PA

Recapish

The Fireflies drew even in their 3-game series with the Braves Tuesday night, winning 6-2 behind a great performance from Joe Shaw. Shaw’s breaking ball was on point against Rome, and his teammates gave him all the run support he’d need in a big 2^nd inning.

Since his first start of the season, which came against this same Rome club, Joe Shaw’s breaking ball has been inducing swinging strikes at a crazy good rate, and that continued Tuesday. It doesn’t matter if the pitch is dropping in the zone or well out of it, SAL batters keep offering at it, and they keep coming up empty.

The Fireflies had faced Mike Soroka three times already this season, and their experience against him finally paid off when they broke through with 4 runs in the 2^nd. Soroka was nearly unhittable again after the 2^nd, but those 4 runs gave Columbia some breathing room, which they haven’t always had against this tough Rome rotation in 2016. Although it was a team contribution in the 2^nd, the star of the game on offense was clearly Tyler Moore. Moore knocked in the first run of the game with a triple and the last run of the game with a blast, both of which were his first of 2016.

Joseph Scott Shaw was cruising on the mound until a high pop up in the 6^th fell in for a two out double - it landed between Ivan Wilson, J.C. Rodriguez (2B), and Kevin Kaczmarski. He lost the next batter to a walk, and then Lucas Herbert came through with a two run single two batters later. With his shutout bid gone, Shaw went out for the 7^th on the verge of 90 pitches and made quick work of the 8-9-1 hitters in the Rome lineup. He finished his night on a high note, dropping in a curve so nice he was halfway off the field by the time the ump finished his punch out because HE KNEW Ray-Patrick Didder just took strike 3. Aaagain.

Craig Missigman took over for Shaw in the 8^th and worked two scoreless innings for his first save of the season. He picked up 4 K’s along the way but a pair of 9^th inning walks kept things interesting until the end.

While Missigman was bouncing back from the pair of walks to K the last two batters, his teammate Vinny Siena was having some fun in the dugout. Siena was given the night off, so instead of terrorizing SAL pitchers, he was pranking his teammates. The excellent Columbia MiLB.tv staff caught on to what was happening right away, and I couldn’t help but bust out laughing when they zoomed in on David Thompson with gum on his hat. When I went back, I realized they even unintentionally caught the moment when Siena dropped the gum on his head! (See below)

I break down the scoring and pitching highlights below, so enjoy! This series wraps up Wednesday night at 7:05 PM, with Chase Ingram (4-5, 4.64 ERA) scheduled to start for Columbia. Wednesday is the last home game of the season’s first-half, and it’s also the last game on MiLB.tv until 6/23. That said, the SAL All-Star game is available on 6/21 at 7:05 PM, and P.J. Conlon is expected to start.

That's Tyler Badamo checking that he hasn't been hit in both GIF's

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Hey Mags, what do you think of the GIF's above?

Braves prospect Touki Toussaint has enough potential to cause Braves fans break into dance

MiLB.tv Scoring Highlights

David Thompson and Luis Ortega connected for consecutive singles in the 1^st inning, but they came with two outs and the Fireflies couldn’t scratch out a run, although Dash put a good drive into the final out of the frame.

Milton Ramos sparked the big rally of the game when he led off the 2^nd inning with an infield single. He came around to score on Tyler Moore’s first triple of the season two batters later. Kevin Kaczmarski, Thompson, and Ortega added RBI singles in the frame to give Cola a 4-0 lead, though it might’ve been more if not for a weird play at 2B. J. C. Rodriguez hit a grounder to 3B that should’ve at least been an easy force out at second base, but 3B Austin Riley’s throw pulled 2B Luke Dykstra off the bag, so Kacz was ruled safe. Unfortunately for Columbia, Kacz assumed he was out and started running off the field. He couldn’t check with the ump at second base because he had turned his attention to the play at 1B. The Braves realized Kacz’s mistake first, and they got the ball to 2B in time to tag him out.

Ivan Wilson singled and picked up his fifth stolen base of the season in the 4^th inning.

Dash Winningham led off the 8^th with a double and was brought home on a Joe Tuschak single. Tuschak was then picked off at 1B just a few pitches before Tyler Moore launched his first homerun of the season.

Dash Winningham

Joe Tuschak

Tyler Moore:

MiLB.tv Defensive Highlights

Ray-Patrick Didder made a nice sliding catch in CF against the Fireflies in the 4^th, and then teammate Alejandro Salazar made a sparkling play at SS in the 8^th.

Pitcher Coverage

Joe Shaw

Table 1 – Shaw pitch stats by inning

	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th	Total
Total	13	9	17	11	18	21	9	98
Strikes	11	7	11	5	10	12	7	63
Swinging*	4	1	2	1	3	2	0	13

*13.3% Swinging strike rate; 28.3% Whiff/Swing

Shaw finished with 9 K’s over his 7 innings, which is one shy of his career high:

After allowing a single with one out in the 1^st inning, Shaw struck out Austin Riley and Jonathan Morales to escape the jam.

He worked a clean 2^nd inning, ending it with a K of Carlos Castro.

He made it 8 straight set down with a perfect 3^rd inning, adding strikeouts of Alejandro Salazar and Ray-Patrick Didder.

Shaw made a throwing error in the 4^th inning, but faced the minimum thanks to a 6-4-3 double play. Rome got two runners on base at once for the first time in the 5^th inning, but Shaw worked around them to keep the Braves off the board. He added strikeouts of Lucas Herbert and Carlos Castro to raise his total to 7 through 5 innings.