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SL Mississippi Braves

Game Info: Saturday, July 20 at Pensacola Blue Wahoos: 6:05 PM: Blue Wahoos Stadium

July 20, 2024 - Southern League (SL)
Mississippi Braves News Release


Mississippi Braves (10-9, 41-46) at Pensacola Blue Wahoos (11-8, 49-38)

Saturday, July 20, 2024 - 6:05 PM - Blue Wahoos Stadium - Pensacola, FL

Game 88 of 137 - 2nd Half Game 20 of 69 - Away Game 49 of 74

Starting Pitchers: RHP Lucas Braun (1-1, 4.32) vs. LHP Patrick Monteverde (1-0, 8.44)

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

Listen Live: 102.1 The Box

Recent Roster Moves

7/15: RHP Landon Harper transferred to Mississippi from High-A Rome

TODAY'S GAME: The M-Braves continue a nine-game road trip with game two of a three-game series at Pensacola on Saturday night at Blue Wahoos Stadium. This is the fourth of six series between the two clubs in 2024. Pensacola will make one more trip to Pearl, August 6-11, and the final series in Pensacola, August 27-September 1.

ABOUT SUNDAY: The M-Braves erased a 4-1 deficit on Friday night by scoring four runs in the top of the sixth inning, capped by a Tyler Tolve three-run home run to beat the Pensacola Blue Wahoos 5-4 in the series opener at Blue Wahoos Stadium. David Fletcher (W, 1-2) earned his first professional win as a pitcher in Mississippi's third-straight win. Fletcher ended up logging his fifth quality start in eight outings and allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Jake McSteen (H, 6) struck out two in a scoreless seventh inning, and Patrick Halligan (S,2) struck out three over the final 2.0 innings to lock down his second save.

BACK-TO-BACK WALK-OFFS: The M-Braves finished the 4-2 series win over Birmingham with back-to-back walk-off wins on Saturday and Sunday ... On Sunday, Justin Dean capped a two-run ninth with an RBI single for the fifth walk-off win at Trustmark Park this season ... Saturday night, Tyler Tolve hit a two-out, walk-off home run to break a 2-2 tie.

CLOSING IN ON STOLEN BASE RECORD ... DEAN LEADS LEAGUE: The M-Braves lead Double-A in stolen bases with 158 (158-for-194, 81%) through 87 games. The closest club is Birmingham with 142 ... Four players have reached 28+ steals. Justin Dean leads the way and leads the Southern League with 35. Geraldo Quintero is T-6th with 29, Cal Conley and Cody Milligan are T-8th with 28 ... Nacho Alvarez had 16 at the time of his promotion to Triple-A. The M-Braves are one steal away from the club record in steals and on pace for 249 (1.87 per game) in 2024. The most by an M-Braves team was 159 in 2007.

(FORMER) ANGEL IN THE INFIELD...AND PITCHING: David Fletcher joined the M-Braves roster on June 2 as a two-way player... Through eight starts as a knuckleball pitcher is 1-2 with a 4.82 ERA (25 ER/46.2 IP), 17 walks, 15 strikeouts, five quality starts and pitching into the sixth inning in seven outings ... Fletcher set a new career high with 8.2 innings pitched on July 13 vs. Birmingham (8.2 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) ... The former Major League infielder has a career .276 batting average with 16 home runs, 170 RBI, and 560 hits over seven seasons and 539 MLB games ... He has played for the LA Angels (2018-23) and Atlanta Braves (2024) ... Fletcher appeared in five games for Atlanta this season in April. He made his first five pitching appearances for Gwinnett this season and appeared in 39 games as a position player. Atlanta received Fletcher via trade with the Angels in exchange for 1B Evan White and LHP Tyler Thomas (12/8/23).

DE AVILA IS DEALIN': LHP Luis De Avila dealt his team-leading ninth quality start of the season on July 11 with 7.0 shutout innings and matching a career-high with 11 strikeouts. In his last six starts since June 2, De Avila leads the Southern League with a 1.66 ERA (38.0 IP/9 ER), 32 strikeouts, and nine walks. During that time period, he ranks among the league leaders in opponents' batting average (3rd, .191), WHIP (4th, 0.92), and strikeouts (T-5th, 32).

START ME UP: The M-Braves' starting pitchers have a 3.51 ERA, ranking them 6th in Double-A. They lead Double-A with five complete games and T-1st with three complete game shutouts.

SHUTOUTS: The Mississippi pitching staff has shut out the Barons twice this week and is T-1st in the Double-A and T-2nd among full-season Minor League teams with 11 shutouts this season.

OGANS EXTENDS STREAK...: Infielder Keshawn Ogans was 1-for-4 on Friday, and is on a team-high 18-game on-base streak that began on June 9, has a .351 OBP, with two doubles, four RBI, nine runs, five walks, three HBP, and three steals.

COUNTIN' ON CAL: Infielder Cal Conley recorded his second career four hit game on July 9 vs. Birmingham, finishing 4-for-5 with a run, and stolen base. Conley hit in five of six games in the Birmingham series, and is 10-for-24 with four multi-hit games, five runs, two walks, and seven stolen bases.

TO THE TOP...OF THE LONGEST SCORELESS STREAKS: Pearl River CC and Southern Miss product Landon Harper hasn't allowed a run over his last nine M-Braves outings and 20.0 innings pitched, dating back to June 2. He hasn't allowed an earned run over his last 24.0 innings between Rome and Mississippi. The 20.0 innings without a run are the third-longest in the Southern League this season and the longest currently. Overall, Harper is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA, one walk, 21 strikeouts, one walk, 0.78 WHIP, and has held the opposition to a .183 average in nine games.

THE MEJIA MAGIC: Mississippi's opening-day starter leads the Southern League with two shutouts and ranks among the league leaders in ERA (4th, 2.40), wins (T-1st, 7), strikeouts (6th, 85), WHIP (5th, 1.11), and opponent's batting average (5th, .209). Mejia set a new club record, not allowing a run over 30.1 innings from April 28 to May 5. Mejia was named Southern League Pitcher of the Month for May and was 4-0, not allowing a run in 26.2 innings, five walks to 30 strikeouts. In five starts at Trustmark Park, Mejia is 5-0 with a 0.69 ERA, seven walks, 32 strikeouts. When Mejia takes the mound, the Mississippi Braves are 13-2 in his 15 starts.

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.

ROAD WARRIORS: After starting the season 6-14 on the road, the M-Braves are 16-11 over their last 27 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 Tanner Gordon became the seventh M-Brave alum to make their major league debut on July 9 for Colorado. Gordon 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), and C.J. Alexander (6/24, KC). The right-hander was the 172nd Mississippi player to make their major league debut and the 24th to be promoted directly from Double-A. Michael Harris II and Vaughn Grisson were promoted from Mississippi to Atlanta in 2022. Max Fried was the last pitcher to be promoted from the M-Braves roster in 2019. Overall, 175 former M-Braves have gone on to make their Major League debut.

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.

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.

Check out the Mississippi Braves Statistics



Southern League Stories from July 20, 2024


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