Sports stats



SL Mississippi Braves

Game Info: Friday, August 9 vs. Pensacola Blue Wahoos: 6:35 PM: Trustmark Park

August 9, 2024 - Southern League (SL)
Mississippi Braves News Release


Mississippi Braves (17-19, 48-57) vs. Pensacola Blue Wahoos (20-15, 58-45)

Friday, August 9, 2024 - 6:35 PM - Trustmark Park - Pearl, MS

Game 105 of 137 - 2nd Half 37 of 69 - Home Game 49 of 63 - 102.1 The Box - Bally Live - MiLB.tv

Starting Pitchers: RHP Drue Hackenberg (1-1, 4.66) vs. RHP Jacob Miller (0-0, 9.00)

Watch Live: Bally Live / MiLB.TV / MLB At Bat

Listen Live: 102.1 The Box

Today's Promotions:

Ronald Acuña Jr. Jersey Giveaway: The first 1,000 fans will get a Ronald Acuña Jr. Jersey. Also, join the Braves and Mississippi Forestry Commission for Smokey Bear's 80th Birthday Party. | Presented By Mississippi Forestry Commission

Trustmark $10,000 Dash For Cash: After the game, $10K is on the line, with ten contestants dashing into the Trustmark Park outfield for as much cash as possible. After Dash For Cash, kids will run the bases.

TrustCare Kids Run The Bases: After the game, TrustCare lets kids run the bases just like the pros!

Recent Roster Moves

8/8: OF Justin Dean transferred from Mississippi to Triple-A Gwinnett

8/8: OF Ethan Workinger transferred to Mississippi from High-A Rome

8/7: LHP Luis De Avila placed on the 7-day Injured List

STARTING LINEUPS

TODAY'S GAME: The M-Braves continue a two-week, 12-game homestand on Friday night with game four of a six-game series against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos at Trustmark Park. In the first leg of the homestand, the M-Braves went 1-5 against the Tennessee Smokies. The M-Braves will visit Pensacola again in 2024, from August 27 to September 1. This Wahoos leads the season series 12-7.

ABOUT THURSDAY NIGHT: Lucas Braun dealt a career-high 7.2 shutout innings, walking none and striking out eight, but the Mississippi Braves faltered in the ninth and fell to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos 4-2 on Thursday night at Trustmark Park. Taking a 1-0 lead into the top of the ninth inning, Pensacola (20-15, 58-45) rallied for four runs, sending ten batters to the plate. After back-to-back one-out singles by Graham Pauley and Joe Mack, Jake McSteen (L, 1-5) was lifted for Elison Joseph. Nathan Marterella singled home the tying run. Joseph would issue two walks and hit a batter, forcing in two runs, and then Jacob Marsee singled in the fourth run. Braun got better as the night went on in his seventh Double-A start. The 22-year-old right-hander from Los Angeles collected six of his eight strikeouts over his final 2.2 innings. Braun left with his longest professional start and threw 92 pitches. Over his last six starts since July 1, Braun has a 2.23 (fifth-best in the SL) ERA with 31 strikeouts to 11 walks over 36.1 innings pitched.

TOLVE SLUGGING AWAY: C Tyler Tolve leads the club with 11 home runs and is T-2nd in the Southern League with eight long balls since June 21, batting .282 with five doubles, a triple, 23 RBI, and .910 OPS in 28 games.

JUSTIN DEAN, THE MAN OF STEAL PROMOTED: OF Justin Dean swas promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett after the game on Wednesday. Dean set a new M-Braves single-season record with 47 stolen bases in 92 games. On July 28 at Montgomery, Dean surpassed Matt Young's record of 42 (set in '09) in just 88 games. Dean has 47 stolen bases and is the M-Braves all-time leader with 117.

JUSTIN DEAN, THE MAN OF STEAL PROMOTED: OF Justin Dean swas promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett after the game on Wednesday. Dean set a new M-Braves single-season record with 47 stolen bases in 92 games. On July 28 at Montgomery, Dean surpassed Matt Young's record of 42 (set in '09) in just 88 games. Dean has 47 stolen bases and is the M-Braves all-time leader with 117.

GETTING TO WORK: OF Ethan Workinger was promoted to Mississippi on Thursday to take the spot of Dean in the outfield. In 98 games for High-A Rome, Workinger was slashing .268/.355/.415, with 15 doubles, 3 triples, 11 home runs, 52 RBI, 46 runs, 49 walks, eight steals, appearing in 78 of 98 games in left field. The San Diego CC product had a two-homer game on June 28 at Winston Salem, notching six RBI, and had a pair of four-hit games.

M-BRAVES SET SINGLE-SEASON STEALS RECORD...IN 88 GAMES: With five stolen bases on July 20 at Pensacola, the M-Braves set a new single-season record for steals in a season, surpassing the previous mark, 159, set by the 2007 club.

Leading Double-A: Mississippi leads Double-A with 191 stolen bases (191-for-237, 81%) through 103 games. The closest club is Montgomery, with 167. The M-Braves are on pace for 254 (1.85 per game) in 2024. Birmingham set the Southern League record with 264 in 1989.

Four players have reached 30+ steals: The M-Braves became the first team in Minor League Baseball to have four players with 30+ steals in 2024. Justin Dean led the way at the time of his August 8 promotion to Triple-A and led Double-A with 47. Cal Conley is T-4th with 34, Cody Milligan is 7th with 31, and Geraldo Quintero is 8th with 30 ... The last team with 4+ players with 30+ steals was the 2022 Down East Wood Ducks (5). The most by a team since 2005 was the 2017 Lancaster Jethawks, with six players.

ANOTHER WALK-OFF WINNER: Three of the last four M-Braves' wins at Trustmark Park have come on walk-offs. Before the All-Star break, Tyler Tolve hit a walk-off homer to beat Birmingham 3-2 on July 13, and on July 14, Justin Dean delivered a walk-off single to beat the Barons 5-4. Dean again delivered on Friday night with a ninth-inning single to beat Tennessee 7-6.

BULLPEN STREAKS: Pearl River CC and Southern Miss product Landon Harper didn't allow a run over 13 M-Braves outings and 25.1 innings pitched from June 2 to August 4, striking out 21 and walking two. He didn't allow an earned run over his 28.1 innings between Rome and Mississippi over the same span. The 25.1 innings without a run is the third-longest in the Southern League this season. Overall, Harper is 1-0 with a 1.19 ERA (4 ER/30.1 IP), four walks, and 26 strikeouts in 15 appearances and two starts.

Joseph Streaking: Elison Joseph hasn't allowed a run over his first seven games and 7.0 innings with nine strikeouts, four walks, and 2-for-2 in save chances.

Halligan's Streak Ends: Patrick Halligan didn't allow a run over 10 appearances and 10.1 innings with 10 strikeouts to four walks from June 27 to July 28, the third-longest streak by an M-Braves pitcher this year.

ROSTER MOVES: The M-Braves have made eight roster moves since July 28. On August 3, RHP Darius Vines was outrighted to Mississippi from Atlanta and activated on Saturday. Also on Saturday, RHP Anthony Vizcaya was released, and C Nick Clarno was transferred to Mississippi and placed on the Development List. C Javier Valdes was released on July 28, INF David McCabe was reinstated from the 60-day IL and transferred to Mississippi on July 30, OF Geraldo Quintero was placed on the IL, and OF Bryson Worrell was transferred to Mississippi from Rome on July 31.

IMPRESSIVE ON-BASE STREAK: INF Keshawn Ogans has reached base safely in 30 of 32 games since June 9. The Cal product saw his team-high 24-game on-base streak end on July 30. Over the streak, he hit .287 with a .374 OBP, 3 doubles, 5 RBI, 13 runs, 9 walks, 3 HBP, and 4 steals. The streak was the fourth-longest in the league this season and the longest by an M-Brave since Jesse Franklin V had a 23-game on-base streak, July 16-August 12, 2023. Michael Harris II had a 31-game on-base streak from April 8 to May 13, 2022. Ozzie Albies has the club record with a 36-game on-base streak from April 24 to August 2, 2016.

HACKENBERG BECOMES STRIKEOUT KING: RHP Drue Hackenberg became the first pitcher in Minor League Baseball to strike out 16 on Sunday, July 21 at Pensacola, setting a new club record. He became the 21st Minor League pitcher since 2005 to record 16 or more strikeouts in a single game and the first since Matt Sauer, who totaled 17 for Double-A Somerset on Aug. 25, 2022.

The 16-K Game: The 22-year-old didn't walk a batter over 7.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits and retiring the final 14 Pensacola batters. The righty retired the side in order in the first inning -- coming one strike shy of an immaculate frame -- before retiring the side again in the second. Hackenberg topped the M-Braves' strikeout record of 14 previously held by Ian Anderson (June 28, 2019) and Tommy Hanson (June 25, 2008).

ROAD WARRIORS: The M-Braves are coming off a 6-3 road trip to Pensacola (3-0) and Montgomery (3-3) and are 9-3 over their last 12 games. After starting the season 6-14 on the road, the M-Braves are 22-14 over their last 36 games away from Trustmark Park, including a 4-1 mark in a home-away-from-home series at Toyota Field, June 13-16. They won a club record nine straight games away from Pearl from May 12 to June 5. The streak included a six-game sweep in Chattanooga, May 21-26.

M-BRAVES TO THE SHOW: RHP Parker Dunshee became the eighth M-Braves alum and fourth from the 2024 squad to make an MLB debut this season on August 8 for Atlanta. He also became the 177th alum to debut since 2005. Dunshee joined Roddery Munoz (4/20, MIA), Tyler Ferguson (5/7, OAK), Spencer Schwellenbach (5/29), Justyn-Henry Malloy (6/3, DET), Hurston Waldrep (6/9), C.J. Alexander (6/24, KC), and Tanner Gordon (7/9, COL) and Nacho Alvarez Jr. (7/22, ATL). Overall, 176 former M-Braves have made their Major League debut.

THE JUCO BANDIT HAD A GREAT JUNE: Cody Milligan homered in back-to-back games on June 25-26, for the first time as an M-Brave and had three multi-hit games in the Montgomery series. The Binger, OK native, went 9-for-24 with two doubles, two homers, four RBI, three runs, and two stolen bases in the June 25-30 series. In June, Milligan hit .300 and was T-5th in the league with 11 extra-base hits, plus eight RBI, five walks, and six stolen bases. His .538 slugging percentage ranked seventh in the league.

"MAY" BE A GOOD SIGN...NO JUNE SWOON: After going 7-15 in April, the M-Braves went 28-26 the past two months, completing a 16-10 May and 12-14 June. The 16 wins in May were the fifth-most in Double-A. The Mississippi pitching staff gave up the second-fewest runs in Double-A (86) during the month and posted a 3.19 ERA.

WALDREP TO THE SHOW: RHP Hurston Waldrep was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett on May 8, and after just one start in Triple-A, he made his major league debut on June 9 at Washington. He was the 173rd player to move from Mississippi to "The Show." The Atlanta Braves' first-round pick in 2023 (24th overall) went 3-1 with a 1.19 ERA from Mississippi in May, with 31 strikeouts to seven walks.

MEJIA TOSSES FIFTH NO-HITTER IN M-BRAVES HISTORY: RHP Ian Mejia's seven-inning no-hitter in game two of the Friday, May 17 doubleheader vs. Biloxi was the fifth no-hitter in M-Braves history, and first individual one since Tommy Hanson's nine-inning no-hitter on June 25, 2008, vs. Birmingham at Trustmark Park. The M-Braves beat the Barons 6-0, and Hanson walked three and struck out 14 in the game. There have been three combined nine-inning no-hitters in team history (Julio Teheran & Tyrelle Harris, 8/2/10 vs. Mobile, Ian Anderson & Jeremy Walker, 6/28/19 vs. Jackson (TN), and Bryce Elder & Daysbel Hernandez, 7/10/21 vs. Pensacola.

FINAL SEASON IN MISSISSIPPI: On January 9, it was announced that after 20 years, 2024 will be the M-Braves' final season in Pearl, MS. As of the start of the 2025 season, the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves will be relocating to Columbus, GA.

M-BRAVES REACH 1,200 WINS: The April 25, 13-3 win over Montgomery was Mississippi's 1,200th in franchise history. It took the M-Braves until the sixth game of the inaugural season in 2005 to win the first game in club history, which was an April 12, 2005, 7-4 win over the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx in game two of a doubleheader at Pringles Park. Jeff Francoeur was 0-for-3, with a walk and RBI, in the game, using a five-run sixth fueled by RBIs by Scott Thorman, Francoeur, and Derrick Gibson. Brian O'Connor got the win for Mississippi.

COACHING STAFF WITH A NEW FLO: After spending one season as manager of the Braves High-A affiliate Rome Braves (Emperors), Angel Flores will take the reins for the first time at the Double-A level, succeeding Kanekoa Texeira. Texeira was promoted to manager of the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers after Matt Tuiasosopo was named to the Braves' Major League coaching staff for 2024. Flores returns to Mississippi, where he served as bench coach in 2022. Flores took over as interim manager from April 26 to May 15, 2022, while Bruce Crabbe took a leave of absence from the club. During the 18-game stretch, the M-Braves went 10-8. During his first season as a full-time manager last year, Flores led the R-Braves to a 34-32 record in the second half and an overall 64-68 mark. Rome closed the year with a 21-15 record in August and September. Overall, he holds a 74-76 record as a manager.

Check out the Mississippi Braves Statistics



Southern League Stories from August 9, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central