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SL Mississippi Braves

Game Info: Sunday, July 21 at Pensacola Blue Wahoos: 4:05 PM: Blue Wahoos Stadium

July 21, 2024 - Southern League (SL)
Mississippi Braves News Release


Mississippi Braves (11-9, 42-46) at Pensacola Blue Wahoos (11-9, 49-39)

Sunday, July 21, 2024 - 4:05 PM - Blue Wahoos Stadium - Pensacola, FL

Game 89 of 137 - 2nd Half Game 21 of 69 - Away Game 50 of 74

Starting Pitchers: RHP Drue Hackenberg (1-1, 4.50) vs. LHP Adam Laskey (3-2, 4.15)

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 the final game of a three-game series at Pensacola on Sunday afternoon 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 LAST NIGHT: The M-Braves won their fourth straight game on Saturday night with a 5-1 victory over the Blue Wahoos at Blue Wahoos Stadium. In the win, Keshawn Ogans extended his on-base streak to 19 games by finishing 3-for-4 with an RBI, run, and stolen base. Justin Dean was 2-for-5, with two stolen bases, and his sixth-inning steal of second base set the new team record for steals in a single season at 160.. The victory clinched the second-straight series win, and sixth overall this season for the M-Braves. Lucas Braun (W, 2-1) made his fourth Double-A start on Saturday and surrendered one hit over 6.0 shutout innings, walking four and striking out five. The pitching effort held the Blue Wahoos off the scoreboard through 8.2 innings. Brandon Parker and Sebastian River each had two hits.

M-BRAVES SET SINGLE-SEASON SB 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 high mark, 159, set by the 2007 club. Mississippi leads Double-A with 163 stolen bases (163-for-199, 82%) through 88 games. The closest club is Birmingham with 147 ... Four players have reached 29+ steals. Justin Dean leads the way and leads the Southern League with 37. Geraldo Quintero, Cal Conley and Cody Milligan are all T-6th with 29 ... Nacho Alvarez had 16 at the time of his promotion to Triple-A. The M-Braves are on pace for 254 (1.85 per game) in 2024.

JUSTIN DEAN, THE MAN OF STEAL: OF Justin Dean leads the league with 37 stolen bases, and is the M-Braves all-time leader with 107. Dean is five stolen bases away from the club single-season record of 42, set by Matt Young in 2009.

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.

(FORMER) ANGEL IN THE INFIELD...AND PITCHING: David Fletcher logged his first professional win on the mound on July 19 at Pensacola ... He 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) ... Fletcher is the first Southern League player since Rick Ankiel to log a pitching win, 45+ IP, and 180 at-bats at the Double-A level.

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). This season De Avila ranks among the league leaders in innings pitched (T-8th, 86.1 IP), and opponents' batting average (10th, .240).

START ME UP: The M-Braves' starting pitchers have a 3.46 ERA, ranking them 5th in Double-A. They are leading Double-A with five complete games and T-1st with three complete game shutouts.

SHUTOUTS: The Mississippi pitching staff shut out the Barons twice last week and is T-2nd in the Double-A and T-4th among full-season Minor League teams with 11 shutouts this season.

OGANS EXTENDS STREAK...: INF Keshawn Ogans was 3-for-4 on Saturday, and is on a team-high 19-game on-base streak that began on June 9. Over the streak, he's batting .300 with a .372 OBP, two doubles, five RBI, 10 runs, five walks, three HBP, and four steals.

HIP, HIP, TOLVE: Over 17 games since June 21, C Tyler Tolve is tied for the league-lead with six home runs, and is batting .286 with a double, triple, and 15 RBI. 18In July, Tolve is batting .282 with a double, four home runs, 10 RBI, and six runs over 10 games.

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.

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.

MOVING ON UP: Since May 29, four M-Braves have been promoted to a higher level, and two are currently on the Atlanta major league roster ... RHP Spencer Schwellenbach was promoted directly to Atlanta on 5/29 ... RHP Hurston Waldrep was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett on 6/1, and then Atlanta on 6/9 ... C Drake Baldwin (6/11) and INF Nacho Alvarez Jr. (5/12) were promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett this last week.

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.

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 July 21, 2024


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