SL1 Mississippi Braves

Mississippi Drops Second Consecutive Game to Pensacola

Published on April 18, 2018 under Southern League (SL1)
Mississippi Braves News Release


PEARL, MS - The Mississippi Braves were defeated by the Pensacola Blue Wahoos for the second time in two days after dropping game two of the five game series by a final score of 8-4. Much like Monday night, the Blue Wahoos bats warmed up quickly as they scored five runs in the top of the first inning.

The Mississippi Braves welcomed a familiar face on the mound in the former 2017 M-Braves starter, Luiz Gohara. Gohara was assigned to Mississippi earlier in the day as part of his MLB rehab. The left-hander started Tuesday night's contest in place of Touki Toussaint who was originally scheduled as Mississippi's Tuesday night starter. Gohara's appearance with the M-Braves on Tuesday night was his first appearance of the 2018 season at any level and in 3.1 innings pitched, Gohara allowed five hits, five runs, one earned, issued three walks and struck out four Blue Wahoos batters.

Mississippi got on the board in the bottom of the first inning after Tyler Neslony reached base safely on a fielding error by Pensacola first baseman, Gavin LaValley, allowing Alay Logo to score from third.

The score remained 5-1 until the top of the fifth inning when Pensacola extended their lead 6-1 after Josh VanMeter singled to left field, which allowed Gabriel Guerrero to score.

Mississippi earned their second run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning after Austin Riley ripped a check swing double into the gap in right field allowing Lago to cross the plate, making the score 6-2 in favor of Pensacola.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Mississippi picked up two more runs when Lago roped a line drive triple into right field scoring both Luis Valenzuela and Michael.

After entering the game in the fourth inning in relief of Gohara, RHP Elian Leyva exited the game in the top of the eighth inning after tossing 3.2 innings of solid relief. The right-hander who was transferred from Triple-A Gwinnett earlier in the day allowed one earned run on three hits, walked one batter and struck out two.

Although the Mississippi Braves managed to cut the deficit to two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Pensacola responded in a big way in the top of the eighth as they added two more insurance runs, extending their lead 8-4.

Despite a late rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, Mississippi fell to Pensacola for the second consecutive night. Pensacola starter, Keury Mella (2-0, 1.06) earned his second win of the season while Mississippi reliever, Luiz Gohara (0-1, 2.70) suffered his first loss. Alex Powers was credited with the save for Pensacola.

The Mississippi Braves will look to bounce back and capture their first win of the series on Wednesday morning as they take on the Pensacola Blue Wahoos at 10:35 a.m. at Trustmark Park. RHP Touki Toussaint (0-1, 5.87) is scheduled to start for Mississippi. RHP Vladimir Gutierrez (0-2, 6.52) will get the start for Pensacola. Wednesday's game will feature the first AMR First Responders Wednesday of 2018 and the second School Day Matinee.

Pensacola (6-6) 8 11 1

Mississippi (4-8) 4 12 2

Win: Keury Mella (2-0)

Loss: Luiz Gohara (0-1)

Save: Alex Powers (1)

Time of Game: 3:03

Attendance: 1,474

Check out the Mississippi Braves Statistics

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Southern League Stories from April 18, 2018


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