Minor league notebook

It's fairly uncommon for two brothers to both end up playing professional baseball.

It's less common for those same brothers to be on the same team.

It's even rarer for one brother to save a win for another brother.

In fact, it is believed that only one set of brothers have earned the win and the save in the same game.

On Tuesday night, those brothers accomplished that feat for the third time in their careers.

Going into spring training, it looked like the closest Augusta natives Matt and Jason Childers would come to earning their third win/save combination would be for one to earn the win and the other to earn the save on the same night with different teams. The same game seemed completely out of the question with Matt in the Atlanta Braves organization and Jason in the Boston Red Sox organization.

But then the Red Sox released Jason after spring training - a time when most rosters are full. Jason went to his home in Douglas, Ga., for a couple of weeks while he and his agent tried to find a team in need of a right-handed relief pitcher.

Matt came close to making the Braves' roster out of spring training, but was assigned to the Triple-A Richmond (Va.) Braves, where he's 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA and opposing batters are hitting .097 off him.

When Matt's coaching staff asked him a couple weeks ago about his brother, Matt said he told them Jason was "healthy and looking for a job."

That - and maybe Jason's career 2.92 ERA - must have been enough for the Braves, because they were the first to call Jason and offer him a spot with their club.

"It didn't matter who called, I just needed a job," Jason said.

Jason signed with the Braves on April 14.

Tuesday night in Fort Mill, S.C., Jason came into the game against the Charlotte Knights in the eighth with the bases loaded, two outs and the Braves leading 4-3. Matt, who had pitched the sixth and seventh innings, was in line for the win if Jason could get out of that jam and hold off the Knights. Jason caught Scott Bikowski looking at strike three to end the eighth and then stranded a man at third in the ninth to close out the game.

The brothers' other two win/save combinations came when they both played in the Milwaukee Brewers' organization.

AROUND THE AREA: Everything seemed to go Jonathan Broxton's way this past Sunday. The Burke County alumnus earned his first win of the season with six innings of shutout baseball and collected his first hit with Double-A Jacksonville.

Broxton scattered four hits and two walks while striking out four in his fourth start. At the plate, Broxton lined a single to center field in the second inning and then led off the fifth with a walk.

ALUMNI UPDATE: Former Augusta GreenJackets pitchers Barry Hertzler and Jose Vaquedano had highlight performances this week for the high-A Wilmington Blue Rocks.

Hertzler picked up his first win of the season by throwing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Vaquedano earned his first save as he finished off the final four innings of a shutout.

AROUND THE MINORS: Former Tampa Bay Devil Rays first-round pick B.J. Upton hit his first home run of the season Tuesday for the Triple-A Durham Bulls. Upton, who played in 45 major league games last season, struggled to start the season in the minors. He was batting .200 on April 15, but has since jumped to .337.

- Another Devil Rays prospect, Chad Orvella, had not allowed a run in nine innings of relief work through Wednesday for the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits. Orvella appeared in 22 games last year for the Charleston RiverDogs.

- Cleveland Indians farm hand Jeremy Sowers threw five perfect innings Tuesday. The left-hander struck out eight for the high-A Kinston Indians.

- Gio Gonzalez, a left-hander for the South Atlantic League's Kannapolis Intimidators, has struck out at least nine batters in all four of his starts and has 38 Ks in 22 innings pitched. Gonzalez is 2-1 with a 1.23 ERA.

Reach Kristy Shonka at (706) 823-3216 or kristy.shonka@augustachronicle.com.