
Sunday, July 17 vs. Rocket City Trash Pandas: 2:05 PM: Trustmark Park
July 17, 2022 - Southern League (SL)
Mississippi Braves News Release
Sunday July 17, 2022 | 2:05 PM CT | Trustmark Park | Pearl, MS
Mississippi Braves (ATL) (42-44, 13-4, 1st SL South, +3.0) vs.
Rocket City Trash Pandas (LAA) (50-36, 9-8, 2nd SL North, -1.0)
Probable Starters: LHP Dylan Dodd (0-0, --) vs. RHP Coleman Crow (7-2, 3.35)
Game #87 | 2nd Half #18 | Home Game #45
Radio: 103.9 FM WYAB
TV: MiLB.TV
Today's Roster Moves:
None
Today's Promotions:
Raising Cane's Sunday Family Fun Day: The M-Braves invite you to bring your entire family out for some Sunday baseball at Trustmark Park! For $25 per person, fans get a game ticket, hat, hotdog, and drink voucher!
Kids Run the Bases: After the game, kids get a chance to run the bases like the pros!
2022 Team Photo Giveaway: The first 1,000 fans will receive a 2022 Mississippi Braves Team Photo, presented by Tutor Family Dentistry and Albert J Tutor Orthodontics!
TODAY'S GAME: The M-Braves continue a six-game series against Rocket City at Trustmark Park for the first time in club history. This is the final series between the two clubs in 2022, totaling 12 meetings, with six at Trustmark Park and six at Toyota Field.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The M-Braves won their fifth straight against Rocket City on Saturday night, 6-2. Cody Milligan had three hits, while Vaughn Grissom added a two-run triple. Starter Alan Rangel logged a quality start with 6.0 shutout innings on two hits, two walks, and five strikeouts.
STARTING JULY OFF RIGHT: The M-Braves are off to a 12-2 start in July, the best start to the month in the MiLB along with High-A Rome. The club is 2nd in AA with a .306 average with 15 home runs. The pitching staff leads AA with a 2.49 ERA and is 2nd in MiLB. The M-Braves have outscored their opponents 87-35 this month.
THE COMEBACK KIDS RETURN: The M-Braves came from behind in the final inning or later for the sixth time this season on Friday, July 15, against Rocket City. The M-Braves had just two comeback wins in the final inning or later last season. The M-Braves have walked off five times at Trustmark Park, including back-to-back walk-offs on July 7-8.
RELIEVERS TO THE RESCUE: The relief core for the M-Braves leads the Southern League and ranks 3rd in Double-A with a 3.77 ERA this season.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE TRASH PANDAS: The M-Braves won two of six against Rocket City from June 7-12. The Trash Pandas outscored the Braves 27-7 in the series. The M-Braves won the first-ever meeting between the two clubs 2-1 and had another 2-1 win in the second game of a doubleheader, where Drew Lugbauer tied the club record with his 32nd career home run as an M-Brave.
CAN'T MISS THE NEW GUYS: In his first five Double-A games, INF Vaughn Grissom is batting .500 with a homer, 5 RBI and two steals. Grissom is ranked as Atlanta's No. 5 prospect, batting .312/15 HR/55 RBI/.891 OPS in 74 games for Rome. Atlanta drafted him in the 11th round of the 2018 draft.
- Justyn-Henry Malloy is batting .300 with a homer and six RBI in five games, and LHP Lisandro Santos has 3.0 scoreless innings in two relief appearances.
THE SLUGBAUER MAKING MISSISSIPPI HISTORY: 1B Drew Lugbauer set a club record with seven RBI on Saturday, July 2, at Biloxi, including his team-leading 16th home run. Lubgauer has hit a club record 36 career M-Braves home runs over two seasons. He hit 18 home runs in 2021. He homered twice on May 27 at Pensacola, where he matched the previous club record with six RBI.
- Lugbauer hit a walk-off three-run homer on Friday, July 8 vs PNS and a walk-off single on Friday, June 3 vs. MTG. He is in the league's top 10 in...home runs (20, 2nd), RBI (50, T-5th), XBH (39, 2nd), SLG (.493, 8th), walks (47, T-5th), doubles (19, T-4th), and total bases (149, T-1st).
THE SLUGBAUER MAKING MISSISSIPPI HISTORY: 1B Drew Lugbauer set a club record with seven RBI on Saturday, July 2, at Biloxi, including his team-leading 16th home run. Lubgauer has hit a club record 36 career M-Braves home runs over two seasons. He hit 18 home runs in 2021. He homered twice on May 27 at Pensacola, where he matched the previous club record with six RBI.
- Lugbauer hit a walk-off three-run homer on Friday, July 8 vs. PNS, and a walk-off single on Friday, June 3 vs. MTG. He is in the league's top 10 in...home runs (19, 2nd), RBI (49, T-5th), XBH
SHUSTER TO THE FUTURE: Starter Jared Shuster has a 2.87 ERA through 16 starts, which ranks 3rd in the Southern League. The 2020 Atlanta first-rounder ranks among the league leaders in OBA (.201, 2nd), WHIP (0.98, 2nd), innings pitched (84.2, 2nd), and strikeouts (98, 2nd).
- Shuster received an invite to the MLB Futures Game at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, July 16, before the MLB All-Star break, featuring baseball's top prospects from around the league.
VINES SHINES AGAIN: RHP Darius Vines has a 1.85 ERA over his last five starts (6 ER/29.2 IP), 21 strikeouts, seven walks, matching career highs with 7.0 shutout innings on June 25 at MTG and July 1 at BLX. He leads the league with 104 strikeouts and 88.0 innings pitched while also ranking among the leaders in starts (17, T-1st), ERA (4.60, 9th) and WHIP (1.33, 8th).
- With his seven shutout innings at Biloxi on July 1, Vines was the first M-Brave to earn Southern League Pitcher of the Week for the week of June 28-July 3.
BIG LEAGUE CLUB MAKING BIG MOVES: On Monday, the Atlanta Braves acquired the 35th overall pick in the 2022 First-Year Player Draft from the Kansas City Royals for INF CJ Alexander, RHP Andrew Hoffmann, and OF Drew Waters, who headlines the trade as Atlanta's No. 1 overall prospect and the 2019 Southern League Player of the Year.
- INF CJ Alexander hit .253 with 15 home runs, tied fourth in the Southern League, and 43 RBI in 68 games for the M-Braves. The Cape Coral, FL native, has appeared in 179 games for the M-Braves since 2019, ranking fourth in team history with 27 home runs. Atlanta drafted Alexander in the 20th round of the 2018 draft.
- RHP Freddy Tarnok earned a promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday, July 8. In his last four starts, he has a 1.71 ERA (4 R/21 IP) with 31 strikeouts. Tarnok matched a career high with 12 strikeouts on Thursday, June 30 at Biloxi.
- Atlanta acquired veteran 2B Robinson Cano from the San Diego Padres in exchange for cash considerations in a minor league deal on Monday.
NEW FACES, NEW PLACES: Atlanta made six transactions affecting the M-Braves on Tuesday, July 12.
- The M-Braves received INF Vaughn Grissom, INF Justyn-Henry Malloy, LHP Dylan Dodd, and LHP Lisandro Santos from High-A Rome.
- Grissom is ranked as Atlanta's No. 5 prospect, batting .312/15 HR/55 RBI/.891 OPS in 74 games for Rome. Atlanta drafted him in the 11th round of the 2018 draft.
- Malloy hit .304/10 HR/44 RBI/.888 OPS in 71 games for Rome. Atlanta drafted him in the 6th round of the 2021 draft from Georgia Tech.
- Dodd went 9-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 89.0 innings over 15 starts for Rome.
- Santos posted a 3.40 ERA in 20 appearances, four starts, and over 47.2 innings.
- RHP Tyler Ferguson transferred to Triple-A Gwinnett, and INF Cade Bunnell transferred to High-A Rome. Ferguson posted a 3.69 ERA in 32.1 innings with three saves for the M-Braves.
Southern League Stories from July 17, 2022
- Barons' Bats Burn Biscuits with 8-Run Inning - Birmingham Barons
- Blue Wahoos Head to All-Star Break with 7-5 Win - Pensacola Blue Wahoos
- Biscuits Salvage Split, Bop Barons, 15-5 - Montgomery Biscuits
- Biloxi Blasts Four Homers in 7-1 Sunday Win - Biloxi Shuckers
- Dodd Dominates in Double-A Debut, M-Braves Sweep Trash Pandas - Mississippi Braves
- Rocket City Stunned in 4-3 Loss to Mississippi - Rocket City Trash Pandas
- Shuckers Take Series-Finale with Smokies, 7-1 - Knoxville Smokies
- Sunday, July 17 vs. Rocket City Trash Pandas: 2:05 PM: Trustmark Park - Mississippi Braves
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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