(Story and photo courtesy Augusta GreenJackets)
NORTH AUGUST – Atlanta Brave AJ Smith-Shawver returned to SRP Park for the first time since 2022, firing three solid innings in his first game in 13 months to kick off a strong win for the GreenJackets (7-2, 43-33), who defeated the Salem RidgeYaks (4-6, 29-46) 11-3 Tuesday night.
Smith-Shawver’s return marked the first Major League rehab assignment to occur in Augusta this year, and was the first time a former GreenJacket has come back to SRP Park on rehab. Smith-Shawver tossed 41 pitches in three innings, striking out four without a walk while allowing just one run. Most importantly, he left in good health and good spirits, and told reporters postgame he felt he could have thrown more if need be.
Once Smith-Shawver departed the game, all focus turned to Augusta’s red-hot offense. The Jackets totaled just two runs in the first four innings against former Georgia Bulldog Leighton Finley, but came to life in the fifth to chase Finley and put the game out of reach early. The five-run frame was highlighted by Juan Mateo’s two-run blast that soared into the Savannah River, but Augusta had five hits total in the inning that secured the sizeable lead.
The GreenJacket offense tacked on in the later innings via two more two-run homers, one each from Alex Lodise and Tanner Smith. Both Lodise and Smith sit at double-digit long balls for the season, with Lodise leading the club at 15. In total, the Jackets tallied 16 hits, tied for the most in a game this year, while eight of nine batters reached base safely. Mateo and Luis Guanipa each had three-hit games, while Cody Miller, Junior Garcia and Michael Martinez each reached three times as well.
While the offense powered its way to double digits once again, Carter Holton methodically dismantled the RidgeYaks’ bats across six innings in relief as he earned his first professional win. Working behind Smith-Shawver, Holton mixed four pitches for strikes as he kept Salem’s batters off balance all night. Holton tied his career high with six strikeouts, and after allowing a two-run homer to Kleyver Salazar in the sixth, retired the final ten batters of the game to confirm his victory.
Augusta has now won three in a row, and eight of ten games to start off the second half of the season. The scorching start to the half has seen the team score seven runs or more in six of eight wins, while the bullpen has dominated in a variety of ways. The Jackets put both those facts to the test Wednesday, with Derek Vartanian starting on the mound opposite Cole Tolbert.
