SL1 Mississippi Braves

Late Rally Falls Short on Wednesday

April 25, 2019 - Southern League (SL1)
Mississippi Braves News Release


PEARL, MS - The Mississippi Braves (9-9) had a late rally fell short on Wednesday, dropping the rubber match of the five-game series to the Montgomery Biscuits (11-8), 6-4. The loss was Mississippi's second straight, moving the club back to .500 as they embark on a road trip to Mobile.

M-Braves starter Kyle Muller (L, 0-1)f walked the first two batters on Wednesday night but was able to regain his composure through a solid outing. Montgomery put up single runs against the Atlanta Braves No. 13 prospect in the first, second and fourth innings to jump out to a 3-0 advantage.

The M-Braves began to chip away at the deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning, Andy Wilkins dropped in a double down the left field line against Montgomery starter Josh Fleming (W, 2-1). Luis Valenzuela singled home Wilkins to drop the deficit to two.

Ryan Casteel brought the M-Braves within a run at 3-2 with his second home run in three games. The 27-year-old's blast sailed 397 feet down the left field line.

Muller pitched into the sixth inning before exiting from his longest outing of 2019. The 20-year-old struck out six and walked just two over 5.1 innings, yielding three runs on five hits. Muller threw a season-high 90 pitches.

The Biscuits tacked on three runs in the top of the eighth inning. The first four reached base safely against Braves reliever Mike Mader and Tristan Gray and Jesus Sanchez collected RBI singles. Montgomery took advantage of Mississippi's second error of the night to make it 6-2.

The Braves erased a three-run deficit on Sunday and began to rally back again Wednesday. Drew Waters opened with a triple, his league-leading 11th extra-base hit. Cristian Pache brought in Waters on the next pitch to cut the Biscuits lead to 6-3. Pache is now tied for the league lead in RBI's with 14 and has a team-most seven multi-hit games. Alejandro Salazar kept the string of hits going with a single, placing runners at the corners. Jonathan Morales collected Mississippi's fourth straight hit against Mobile reliever Ivan Pelaez bringing in Pache, The BayBears left-hander was able to stop the bleeding by inducing a flyout from Casteel and a lineout double play off the bat of Wilkins.

Josh Graham pitched a perfect top of the ninth for the M-Braves in his team-leading eighth appearance, but so did Montgomery's Phoenix Sanders (S, 1) in the bottom half of the frame seal the game.

The Braves hit the road to Mobile on Thursday for game one of a five-game series at Hank Aaron Stadium. RHP Patrick Weigel will make the start for the Braves in the series opener and be opposed by Mobile RHP Jason Alexander. First pitch is set for 6:35 pm, with coverage beginning at 6:20 pm on 103.9 WYAB, TuneIn Radio, and MiLB.tv.

The M-Braves will return to Trustmark Park for a ten-game homestand against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and Pensacola Blue Wahoos, May 1-10. For tickets visit mississippibraves.com/tickets or call 888-BRAVES4!

The Mississippi Braves are the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. Since the inaugural 2005 season, 139 M-Braves have gone on to Major League Baseball. The M-Braves have made postseason play four times and went on to win the Southern League Championship in 2008. Stop by Trustmark Park or call 888-BRAVES4 Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. For the latest news and updates, visit mississippibraves.com or connect with @mbraves on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Southern League Stories from April 25, 2019


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