SALEM, Va. – Sunday proved to be a noteworthy day for former Bradley Baseball players now playing professionally.  Former Braves star Dan Brewer hit for the cycle Sunday, while 2012 Bradley pitching ace Joe Bircher earned his first career professional pitching victory.

Brewer, who was traded two weeks ago by the New York Yankees organization to the Atlanta Braves, is batting .324 in his first nine games with Lynchburg in the Class A Advanced Carolina League.  He was 4-for-5 Sunday with three RBI's and completed the cycle with a 9th-inning double, helping the Hillcats to a 9-3 win against the Salem Red Sox.

Brewer was drafted by the Yankees in the eighth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft after his junior season.  He was a 2010 MiLB.com Organization All-Star for the Yankees and reached the Triple-A level, but has battled knee and hamstring injuries the last two seasons.

Bircher earned his first professional victory by tossing the first 5.0 innings for the Tri-City ValleyCats in a 9-4 win at Auburn in New York-Penn League action.  The 6-foot-5 lefthander scattered five hits and struck out four while allowing three runs, one earned, in his winning performance.

A first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference performer as a senior for the Braves in 2012, Bircher was selected by the Houston Astros in the 10th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft.  The 6-foot-5 lefthander is 1-2 with a 3.86 earned run average in seven starts for Tri-City.

Elsewhere around the minor leagues, rookie pitcher Jacob Booden also turned in a solid performance Sunday, tossing 2.0 perfect relief innings for the Johnson City Cardinals in Appalachian League action.  The 6-foot-9 righthander has appeared in nine games out of the bullpen for Johnson City after signing a free agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Released by the Kansas City Royals earlier this month, former Bradley catcher Ryan Eigsti has landed with the Toronto Blue Jays organization and debuted for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s Saturday.  He picked up his first hit and RBI for the 51s Sunday in a 1-for-2 showing at the plate.