Off Day Rundown: Braves clinch No. 1 seed in West Division, squad records first losing streak, plethora of new faces arrive in Bourne

By: Nick Galle 

There is no doubt that most of the adversity that the Braves have had to face this season has come over the last six games. Bourne went 3-3 since its last off day, and was outscored 36-25 by opponents.

Although the Bravos had a rough start to the week, they bounced back nicely heading into the day off. If you’ve missed anything from this roller coaster ride of a week, here is everything you need to know about the best team in the West:

• The Braves clinched the No. 1 seed in the West Division for the first time since 2014 on Monday. Bourne lost 10-5 to Orleans, but Chatham beat Falmouth, allowing the Bravos to lock down the division with just over a week left to go in the regular season.

• Twenty-nine games into the season, Bourne recorded back-to-back losses for the first time, losing to Harwich on Sunday and the Firebirds the following night. Things would get worse for Harvey Shapiro’s club, as the Braves fell to Cotuit on Tuesday in a 13-2 blowout to push their losing streak to three games.

• Roster additions since last off day (July 22):
  • Kelsey Ward
    • Ward was signed and activated on July 23. He went 4-2 and posted a 3.86 ERA at Embry-Riddle in 2020, striking out 32 through 30 1/3 innings. The left-hander has made one appearance for Bourne and gave up two hits, three runs and walked two in 1/3 of an inning.
  • Lucas Costello
    • The Wake Forest product was signed and activated on July 25. He hit .279 with five home runs and 31 RBIs this past season for the Demon Deacons and has gone 1-for-11 with a run scored in three games with the Bravos.
  • Hunter Jump
    • Jump was signed and activated on July 28. This past spring at Arizona State, Jump hit .289 with two home runs and 30 RBIs. He will be playing at Kentucky next year and has yet to appear in a game for the Braves.
  • Benjamin Huber
    • Huber was also signed and activated on July 28. He was outstanding at Limestone University this past season, batting .439 with 10 home runs and 48 RBIs. Huber is transferring to UConn, making him the fourth Husky that we’ve seen in Bourne this summer.

• Roster departures since last off day (July 22):
  • Braylen Wimmer
    • Wimmer was officially released on July 26 and played his last game the day before against Harwich. The South Carolina Gamecock was one of the team’s top run-producers, driving in 16 RBIs on the season. He also added two home runs and hit .282, hitting safely in 17 of his 23 games played.
  • Jordan Patty
    • The Central Michigan Chippewa was officially released on July 28. Patty was solid during his stint on the Cape, going 20 innings, allowing 17 hits, nine runs, walking four and striking out 21. He went 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA.
  • Cade Smith
    • Smith was officially released on July 28 following the Jump and Huber signings. The right-hander made five appearances out of the bullpen this summer and went 6 1/3 innings, allowed seven hits, five earned runs, walked two and struck out seven. Smith went 1-0 and posted a 7.10 ERA.

• There has been no shortage of late-game heroics at Doran Park this season, and Peter Burns gave Bravos fans something else to celebrate on July 23 with a walk-off base hit against Orleans that plated Joe Lampe. It was Bourne’s 20th win of the season.

• Michael Sansone continued his dominance on the Cape, going five scoreless innings against Chatham on July 24 to record his fourth win of the year. He now has a 0.78 ERA this summer and has surrendered just 12 hits and two walks through 23 innings, while striking out 23.

• In the midst of the three-game losing skid, the play of Dalton Rushing was one of the few bright spots. After going hitless in his last 11 at-bats, Rushing went 2-for-4 with a home run against the Firebirds and also put one over the wall the following day in Cotuit. The Louisville Cardinal is now 5-for-13 (.385) over the past three games and leads the team in home runs (6) and RBIs (21) on the season.

• Bourne snapped its losing streak with an 8-2 win over Y-D on July 28 behind stellar pitching and a five-run bottom of the eighth. Trystan Vrieling shut out the Red Sox for three innings before passing the torch to Dylan Bowers, who was fantastic in his four innings of relief. It was Bowers’ last appearance in a Bourne uniform, and he gave up just three hits, two unearned runs and fanned three. Tyler Stuart and Eric Adler then tossed a scoreless eighth and ninth to lock down win number 22 for the Bravos.

Cover photo via: Joe Sullivan