SL1 Mississippi Braves

Lucas Blasts Braves to Fourth Straight Win

Published on September 2, 2011 under Southern League (SL1)
Mississippi Braves News Release


Zebulon, NC - Behind a pair of late Ed Lucas home runs, the Mississippi Braves drowned the Carolina Mudcats 7-2 on Friday night at Five County Stadium.

With the game tied at 2-2 in top of the eighth and men at the corners, Lucas sent an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall for his fifth home run of the season and his second in as many nights to take a 5-2 lead.

Then, after an unearned run put Mississippi (34-33; 59-78) ahead 6-2, Lucas struck again in the ninth for a solo home run, his sixth.

The win for Mississippi (34-33; 59-78) was their fourth consecutive victory.

Zeke Spruill had another solid start, allowing just an earned run over six innings, but he took a no-decision.

Meanwhile for Carolina (29-37, 52-84) James Avery similarly pitched well, as Mississippi managed just a run on four hits.

But it was the Mudcats bullpen that faltered tonight.

Justin Freeman blew a save in the seventh and took the loss, his fourth, allowing three runs on three hits in an inning. Yeliar Castro earned the win for Mississippi in relief, his second.

The M-Braves struck first on the night when Ernesto Mejia sent an Avery fastball over the tall wall in left field for his 23rd blast of the season.

The homer tied the M-Braves franchise record for hits in a season with 143, set by Carl Loadenthal in 2007.

It was Mejia's third major offensive record tied this season, having set the home run and RBI records two weeks earlier.

The Braves go for their fifth straight victory on Saturday night against the Mudcats at 5:15 PM CDT.

Left-hander Luis Avilan takes on Mudcats veteran right-hander Justin Lehr.

Check out the Mississippi Braves Statistics

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Southern League Stories from September 2, 2011


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