Game Info: Saturday, September 14 at Biloxi Shuckers: 6:05 PM: Keesler Federal Park

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Mississippi Braves

Game Info: Saturday, September 14 at Biloxi Shuckers: 6:05 PM: Keesler Federal Park

September 14, 2024 - Southern League (SL)
Mississippi Braves News Release


Mississippi Braves (31-35, 62-72) at Biloxi Shuckers (35-31, 64-67)

Saturday, September 14, 2024 - 6:05 PM - Keesler Federal Park - Biloxi, MS

Game 135 of 136 - 2nd Half 67 of 68 - Away Game 72 of 73

Starting Pitchers: RHP Ian Mejia (7-7, 3.66) vs. LHP Adam Seminaris (1-7, 5.79)

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

Listen Live: 102.1 The Box

Recent Roster Moves:

9/13: INF/OF Geraldo Quintero placed on the 7-day Injured List

9/13: INF Colby Jones transferred to Mississippi from High-A Rome

STARTING LINEUPS

TODAY'S GAME: The Mississippi Braves continue their final series in team history with game four of a five-game series on Saturday night in Biloxi. The M-Braves are 14-13 against the Shuckers this season, including 7-5 at Keesler Federal Park. The Shuckers lead the all-time series, 120-107.

MCCABE, PARKER HOMER, BRAUN FANS 10 IN FRIDAY WIN: The M-Braves stopped an eight-game losing streak on Friday night with a 7-0 win over the Shuckers at Keesler Federal Park. David McCabe and Brandon Parker hit tape-measure home runs, and Lucas Braun struck out ten over 5.1 innings in the shutout victory. Neither team tallied a hit through the first three innings, but with two outs in the top of the fourth, McCabe launched a 419-foot home run over the left field wall to give Mississippi a 1-0 lead. Parker started a four-run sixth inning for the M-Braves with his second home run of the series. Braun, hit his pitch limit in the sixth inning, but only after recording his tenth and final strikeout. Over 5.1 innings, he allowed no runs on one hit, walked four, and logged his fifth double-digit strikeout game of his season. Trey Riley, Ryan Bourassa, and Jonathan Hughes pitched the final three innings to finish off the M-Braves' 16th shutout victory of the season, which ranks tied for second in Double-A baseball. Ogans opened the top of the ninth inning with his second triple of the season and scored on a Parker single to close out the 7-0 win. Parker was 2-for-4 at the plate on Friday night. McCabe reached base safely three times by walking twice and adding the homer. Cody Milligan was also on base three times, finishing 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and a run scored.

BIG BAD BRAUN: RHP Lucas Braun has put together one of the top seasons in the Atlanta Braves organization this year. Braun finished his 2024 campaign by leading the organization with 162 strikeouts over 24 starts between High-A Rome and Double-A Mississippi. He's just the third pitcher in the organization to record 162+ strikeouts in a season since 2019, joining Royber Salinas and Ian Anderson. Braun leads the organization in strikeouts (162), and innings pitched (143.2), and is among the leaders in ERA (4th, 3.26), starts (T-1st, 24), WHIP (2nd, 1.14), opponent's batting average (3rd, .228), and wins (2nd, 9). Since his promotion to Double-A on June 25, Braun leads the Southern League with a 2.38 ERA and 87 strikeouts over 13 starts (21 ER/79.1 IP), a 1.07 WHIP, and,207 BAA.

SHUTOUTS, DONUTS, AND GOOSE EGGS: Last night's 7-0 shutout of Biloxi was Mississippi's 16th of the season. The 16 shutouts are T-2nd in Double-A and T-4th in Minor League Baseball.

FINAL HOME GAME AT TRUSTMARK PARK: In front of 4,411 fans on Sunday afternoon, the Mississippi Braves played their final regular season home game at Trustmark Park, falling to the Tennessee Smokies 10-3. The final out was recorded at 4:57 pm CT and 7,083 days since the home opener on April 18, 2005. The M-Braves closed out this era of baseball in Mississippi with 9,745 fans attending games on Saturday and Sunday. The Trustmark Park gates have opened 1,243 times, with 3,581,517 fans attending a Mississippi Braves baseball game.

THE END OF AN ERA: This week ends a 20-year, 19-season run of Mississippi Braves baseball in the Southern League. On January 9, Diamond Baseball Holdings announced that the franchise would be relocating to Columbus, GA, for the 2025 season and play at a renovated Golden Park, which has been renamed Synovus Park. The new club announced on September 9 the new team name as the Columbus Clingstones. The M-Braves played its first game at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium on April 7, 2005. The M-Braves lineup featured future big-leaguers Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, Scott Thorman, Gregor Blanco, Luis Hernandez, and Anthony Lerew. Francoeur & McCann homered in their first Double-A game, but the Braves lost to Montgomery 9-8.

JONES BECOMES FIRST 2024 DRAFT PICK TO REACH DOUBLE-A: INF Colby Jones, Atlanta's 13th-round selection in July, was promoted to Mississippi from High-A Rome on Friday. The Northwest Florida State College (JC) product was committed to Alabama before signing with Atlanta on July 23. Jones appeared in 27 games for Augusta and Rome this season. In a corresponding move, INF/OF Geraldo Quintero was placed on the 7-day Injured List.

SANCHEZ PROMOTED: Yolbert Sanchez, one of the Southern League's hottest hitters last month, was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday. Sanchez had hit in 18 of his last 24 games since August 4, including a seven-game hitting streak, leading the league by batting .395 with 13 multi-hit games. Since June 30, Sanchez ranks fourth in the Southern League, batting .327 in 42 games.

COUNTIN' ON CAL: Cal Conley has a hit in 12 of his last 14 games since August 28, batting .309 with 17 hits, three doubles, and five multi-hit games

WINNING AUGUST: Despite starting August 2-7, the M-Braves posted a winning month by going 12-6 over the final 18 games, and finish 14-13 overall.

LANDON HARPER TO THE TOP: Pearl River CC and Southern Miss product Landon Harper might have found a home as a starting pitcher. Harper tossed a career-high 6.0 shutout innings on September 3 vs. Tennessee, and over five starts this season for the M-Braves he has posted a 0.87 ERA, four walks, and 17 strikeouts in 21.0 innings.

CONLEY JOINS 40-STEAL CLUB: Cal Conley became the fifth player in Double-A to join the 40-stolen base club on August 31 at Pensacola with his 40th and 41st stolen base of the season. He joins Justin Dean (47) as the only other M-Braves player to have a 40-steal season in club history.

ROAD SUCCESS/HOME SWOON: The M-Braves are 19-8 over their last 27 road games since the All-Star Break, and 6-17 at home. After starting the season 6-14 on the road, the M-Braves are 28-17 over their last 45 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.

MCCABE MAKING IT BACK: DH David McCabe had Tommy John surgery in February, returned to action, and made his M-Braves debut on July 30. McCabe hit his first home run on August 9 vs. Pensacola, his first home run since August 18, 2023, while with Rome. In 2023, McCabe led the Braves farm system with 75 RBI and finished T-3rd in homers with 17.

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

Top-3 in Double-A: Mississippi is third in Double-A with 221 stolen bases (221-for-282, 79%) through 134 games. Arkansas leads with 233, and Montgomery has 222. Birmingham set the Southern League record with 264 in 1989.

First to 200 Steals: With three steals on August 16 at Biloxi, the M-Braves became the first team in Double-A and 10th in minor league baseball to reach 200 steals in 2024.

Four players with 30+ steals, two with 40+: The M-Braves became the first team in Minor League Baseball to have four players with 30+ steals in 2024, and first in Double-A and third in Minor League Baseball to have two with 40+ steals. Justin Dean led the way at the time of his August 8 promotion to Triple-A and led Double-A with 47. Cal Conley ranks 3rd in the Southern League with 42, Cody Milligan is 6th with 38, and Geraldo Quintero is T-10th with 32 ... The M-Braves became the first team with 4+ players with 30+ steals since the 2022 Down East Wood Ducks (5). The most by a team since 2005 was the 2017 Lancaster Jethawks with six players.

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.

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