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Mississippi Braves

Braves Beat Birmingham Again

April 24, 2007 - Southern League (SL1)
Mississippi Braves News Release


The Braves and the Barons played another close one Tuesday night at Trustmark Park before a crowd of 3,387. For the third straight game, the M-Braves pitching staff stole the show. This time, it was big lefty Dan Smith that dominated Birmingham. Smith gave up a run in the first to the league's third-best offense, but held them scoreless after that.

Mississippi has played suspect defense all year, but in the first inning of Tuesday night's match-up against the Barons, it bit them. Robert Valido hit what is usually a lazy pop up to an infielder, but that wasn't the case on this play. Miscommunication between first baseman Greg Creek, pitcher Dan Smith, and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia allowed the ball to fall to the ground and give Valido a unique base hit.

Valido then stole second and moved to third when Saltalamacchia's throw squirted into centerfield. With Valido on third, Cory Aldridge ripped a double down the right field line that plated Valido with the games first run.

The Braves returned the favor in the second when they scored thanks to defensive lapses by the Barons. Matt Esquivel got things started when he singled to left and stole second to get into scoring position. Creek hit a grounder to first and Esquivel came around to score from when first baseman Jeremy Frost threw the ball away attempting to get Creek at first. After two innings, the Braves and Barons were tied at one.

Mississippi took the lead in the fifth when Van Pope hit his second triple of the year to right. Two batters later, Diory Hernandez singled to left bringing Pope to the plate - giving the M-Braves a 2-1 lead.

While the Braves pitchers ruled the mound, Jarrod Saltalamacchia owned the plate. Salty ripped his fifth and sixth homers of the year in the sixth and eighth innings, respectively, to give the Braves a 4-1 lead. Salty took the first pitch he saw from Fernando Hernandez out to left-center and a 1-1 pitch from Dewon Day out to left.

Dan Smith gave up the one run in the first, but settled down to hold Birmingham in check through the next six innings. He surrendered four hits while fanning six in seven innings. Michael Nix came on to relieve Smith and threw one scoreless inning. Zach Schreiber threw a scoreless ninth to earn his third save of the year.

Wes Whisler gave up two runs in five innings to get his second loss of the year. Fernando Hernandez gave up a run in two innings of work. Dewon Day struck out the side, but gave up one run in one inning of work.

The Braves and the Barons will play game five of this series tomorrow at 11:05 am. Kelvin Villa will take the hill for Mississippi while Birmingham will counter with Kris Honel. The Braves are going for their first series sweep of the year and their first five-game series sweep ever.

Braves Bites:

Dan Smith matched the team-high for innings by a starter with 7.0 ... He's won a team-high three games.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia belted his team-high and league-high fifth and sixth homers of the year ... Salty set a team-high by getting a hit in his eighth straight game (13-31, .419).

The M-Braves matched a season high by winning their fourth straight game.

The Braves now have a three game lead in the Southern League South division standings ... It's the largest lead the Braves have ever had in the SL South standings.

Check out the Mississippi Braves Statistics

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Southern League Stories from April 24, 2007


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