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SL Mississippi Braves

Game Info: Thursday, July 4 vs. Biloxi Shuckers: 6:05 PM: Trustmark Park

July 4, 2024 - Southern League (SL)
Mississippi Braves News Release


Mississippi Braves (5-4, 36-41) at Biloxi Shuckers (5-4, 35-41)

Thursday, July 4, 2024 - 6:05 PM - Trustmark Park - Pearl, MS

Game 78 of 137 - 2nd Half Game 10 of 69 - Home Game 31 of 63

Starting Pitchers: LHP Luis De Avila (1-8, 3.93) vs. RHP Logan Henderson (4-0, 1.66)

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

Listen Live: 102.1 The Box

Recent Roster Moves

7/1: OF Bryson Worrell transferred from Mississippi to High-A Rome

TODAY'S GAME: The M-Braves and Biloxi Shuckers continue a six-game series on Thursday night at Trustmark Park. The first three games, July 1-3, were played at Keesler Federal Park in Biloxi, and the final three games, July 4-6, will be played in Pearl. This is the third of six series against the Shuckers. The M-Braves are 8-7 against the Shuckers this season. The M-Braves make return trips to Biloxi in the second half, August 13-18, and September 10-15.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The M-Braves returned the favor after falling 8-1 on Tuesday by blasting the Shuckers by the same score on Wednesday night in front of 5,728 at Keesler Federal Park. Lucas Braun earned his first Double-A win with 6.0 shutout innings, and Tyler Tolve was 3-for-4 with a double, home run, three RBI, and three runs scored in the win. In his second Double-A start, Braun struck out five and walked two, scattering four hits in the 6.0 innings of scoreless baseball. The game was scoreless through six innings before Mississippi broke through with three runs in the seventh, one in the eighth, and four in the ninth.

TOLVE TEARING IT UP: Over his last 10 games since June 21, Tyler Tolve is batting .314 with six extra-base hits, including four home runs, nine RBI, three walks, and 1.143 OPS. In the current series with Biloxi, the Marietta, GA native is 4-for-11 with a double, two home runs, four RBI, and four runs scored

GOING STREAKING: Pearl River CC and Southern Miss product Landon Harper hasn't allowed a run over his last eight outings and 16.0 innings pitched, dating back to June 2. The 16.0 innings without a run are the fourth-longest in the Southern League this season. Overall, Harper is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA, one walk, 17 strikeouts, 0.74 WHIP, and has held the opposition to a .188 average in nine games.

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.

(FORMER) ANGEL IN THE INFIELD...AND PITCHING: David Fletcher joined the M-Braves roster on June 2 as a two-way player... Through five starts as a knuckleball pitcher is 0-2 with a 6.31 ERA)18 ER/25.2 IP), 11 walks, six strikeouts, two quality starts, and pitching into the sixth inning in four outings ... 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 DEALIN' IN JUNE...NAME SL PITCHER OF THE WEEK: The 2023 Southern League Postseason All-Star, Luis De Avila, ranked third in the Southern League with a 1.74 ERA (31.0 IP/6 ER) in five June starts with nine walks to 23 strikeouts. The opposition hit .182 against him. The Columbia native was named SL Pitcher of the Week on July 1 for his June 28 start vs. Montgomery, pitching 7.0 innings of two-hit baseball, striking out a season-high seven, and walking none, firing 89 pitches in his 14th start of the year. De Avila faced one over the minimum and retired 21 of 23 batters.

NEED FOR SPEED: The M-Braves lead all of Double-A in stolen bases with 138 (138-for-169) through 77 games. Five players have reached double-digit steals. Justin Dean leads the way and is 2nd in the league with 31. Geraldo Quintero is 4th with 28, Cody Milligan is 9th with 23, and Cal Conley is T-11th with 20 ... Nacho Alvarez had 16 at the time of his promotion to Triple-A. Mississippi had 157 stolen bases last season and is on pace for 246 (1.79 per game) in 2024. The most by an M-Braves team was 159 in 2007.

HOME SWEET HOME: The M-Braves went 8-9 over a 17-game road trip to Pensacola, Rocket City, and Tennessee from June 4 to June 23. The M-Braves are in the midst of playing 15 of 18 games at Trustmark Park.

START ME UP: The M-Braves' starting pitchers have a 3.58 ERA, ranking them 6th in Double-A. They are leading Double-A with five complete games and T-1st with three complete game shutouts.

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.

THE MEJIA MAGIC: Ian 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 four starts at Trustmark Park, Mejia hasn't given up a run in 27 innings. When Ian Mejia takes the mound, the Mississippi Braves are 10-2 in his 12 starts. Mississippi's opening-day starter leads the Southern League with two shutouts and ranks among the league leaders in ERA (4th, 2.62), wins (T-2nd, 6), strikeouts (5th, 81), WHIP (5th, 1.11), and opponent's batting average (5th, .207). Mejia set a new club record, not allowing a run over 30.1 innings from April 28 to May 5.

SCHWELLY TO THE SHOW: Atlanta Braves No. 3 overall prospect Spencer Schwellenbach had his contract selected by the Atlanta Braves on May 29. He made his MLB debut on May 29 vs. Washington (5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO).

M-BRAVES TO THE SHOW: Schwellenbach was the third of six former M-Braves to make their major league debut this season, joining Roddery Munoz (4/20, MIA), Tyler Ferguson (5/7, OAK), 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.

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Southern League Stories from July 4, 2024


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