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SL Mississippi Braves

Game Info: Wednesday, July 24 at Montgomery Biscuits: 6:35 PM: Riverwalk Stadium

July 24, 2024 - Southern League (SL)
Mississippi Braves News Release


Mississippi Braves (13-9, 44-46) at Montgomery Biscuits (9-13, 49-42)

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 - 6:35 PM - Riverwalk Stadium - Montgomery, AL

Game 91 of 137 - 2nd Half Game 23 of 69 - Away Game 52 of 74

Starting Pitchers: RHP Ian Mejia (7-2, 2.40) vs. RHP Logan Workman (6-5, 3.26)

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 six-game series at Montgomery on Wednesday night at Riverwalk Stadium. This is the fourth, and final series meeting between the two clubs in 2024.

BRING ON THE BISCUITS: This week marks the final series between the Biscuits and M-Braves. Since 2005, Montgomery has been Mississippi's most common opponent. Today, the teams meet for the 357th time, with the Biscuits holding a 204-152 advantage. The M-Braves beat the Biscuits 3-2 in the 2021 Double-A South Championship Series.

ABOUT TUESDAY: The M-Braves won their sixth-straight game on Tuesday night with a 5-1 victory over the Montgomery Biscuits in the series opener at Riverwalk Stadium. Luis De Avila continued his hot stretch on the mound that began in June, earning his second-straight win and team-leading 10th quality start on Tuesday. The lefty struck out five and walked two over 6.0 innings, allowing one run on five hits. Bryson Horne hit a three-run home run to cap a four-run fifth inning. Jorge Juan pitched a scoreless inning, and Jonathan Hughes struck out four over the eighth and ninth. Keshawn Ogans was 1-for-4 and upped his on-base streak to 21 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 high mark, 159, set by the 2007 club. Mississippi leads Double-A with 168 stolen bases (166-for-207, 80%) through 90 games. The closest club is Birmingham with 150 ... Four players have reached 29+ steals. Justin Dean leads the way and leads the Southern League with 40. Geraldo Quintero is T-6th with 30, and Cal Conley and Cody Milligan are all T-7th with 29 ... Nacho Alvarez had 16 at the time of his promotion to Triple-A. The M-Braves are on pace for 253 (1.87 per game) in 2024.

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 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). Hackenberg generated 26 swings-and-misses -- the most by any Double-A pitcher and one shy of the most in affiliated baseball as Giants rookie Hayden Birdsong piled up 27.

JUSTIN DEAN, THE MAN OF STEAL: OF Justin Dean leads the league with 40 stolen bases and is the M-Braves all-time leader with 110. Dean is two stolen bases away from the club single-season record of 42, set by Matt Young in 2009.

BACK-TO-BACK SERIES WINS...FIVE-GAME WIN STREAK: The M-Braves finished off a three-game sweep of Pensacola on Sunday and are currently on a five-game winning streak. The M-Braves started the streak by ending the 4-2 series win over Birmingham with back-to-back walk-off wins on July 13 and July 14.

(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': Luis De Avila dealt his team-leading 10th quality start of the season on July 23 at Montgomery with 6.0 innings of one-run baseball. In his last seven starts since June 2, De Avila leads the Southern League with a 1.64 ERA (44.0 IP/8 ER), 37 strikeouts, and 11 walks. During that time period, he ranks among the league leaders in opponents' batting average (2nd, .191), WHIP (2nd, 0.93), and strikeouts (T-6th, 37). This season De Avila ranks among the league leaders in innings pitched (4th, 92.1 IP), ERA (9th, 3.51), and starts (6th, 17).

START ME UP: The M-Braves' starting pitchers have, and 38 quality starts, plus a 3.40 ERA, ranking them 5th in Double-A. They lead Double-A with five complete games, T-1st with three complete game shutouts, and rank 7th with 427 strikeouts.

OGANS STREAKING...: INF Keshawn Ogans was 1-for-4 on Tuesday and is on a team-high 21-game on-base streak that started June 9. Over the streak, he's batting .295 with a .368 OBP, 3 doubles, 5 RBI, 11 runs, 6 walks, 3 HBP, and 4 steals.

HIP, HIP, HIP, TOLVE: Tyler Tolve homered in three straight games, July 13-21, becoming the first M-Brave to do it this season and 10th in club history. Tolve blasted a walk-off homer on July 13 vs. Birmingham. Over 19 games since June 21, C Tyler Tolve leads the league with seven home runs, and is batting .282 with two doubles, a triple, and 18 RBI. In July, Tolve is batting .277 with two doubles, five home runs, 13 RBI, and seven runs over 12 games.

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 21.0 innings pitched, dating back to June 2. He hasn't allowed an earned run over his last 25.0 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 1.13 ERA, one walk, 22 strikeouts, 0.71 WHIP, and has held the opposition to a .186 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, and 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 20-11 over their last 31 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: INF Nacho Alvarez Jr. became the eighth M-Braves alum to make their MLB debut on July 22 for Atlanta. Nacho joined and 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), C.J. Alexander (6/24, KC), and Tanner Gordon (7/9, COL). 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 July 24, 2024


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