SL1 Mississippi Braves

Two-Out Runs Sink M-Braves

Published on August 27, 2007 under Southern League (SL1)
Mississippi Braves News Release


Five runs in the first two frames put Mississippi behind the eight ball Monday night at Trustmark Park. Birmingham got a run in the first and four two-out runs in the second to jump out to a commanding lead. The M-Braves came back with three runs in the second, but the Barons pulled away down the stretch.

Birmingham took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an error by pitcher Kelvin Villa. Villa walked Adam Shabala to start the game and Victor Mercedes ripped a single back up the middle. Chris Getz bunted them over to third and second, respectively. Shawn Garrett's grounder back up the middle was fielded by Villa and he caught Shabala in between third and home. Villa's throw to third was in the dirt allowing Shabala to score the game's first run. With runners still at second and third, Villa struck out the next two batters to keep the damage to a minimum.

Birmingham blew it open in the top of the second as they batted around and scored four runs, all with two outs. After the first two batters of the inning were retired in order, Sean Smith singled to right field. Shabala then executed a picture-perfect hit-and-run that moved Smith over to third. Mercedes walked to load the bases and Chris Getz doubled to right plating Smith and Shabala. Garrett shot a single to left-center that brought Mercedes and Getz to the plate to push the Barons' lead to 5-0 after only an inning-and-a-half.

Mississippi got back in the game in the bottom of the second. Mike Rozema hit a laser back up the middle and Josh Burrus walked to set the table for Clint Sammons. Sammons, who came into the game hitting .406 against Birmingham, hit a towering home run that just cleared the left field wall. The three-run shot was Sammons' fifth of the year.

Birmingham pushed its lead to 7-3 in the sixth when David Cook ripped a two-run homer, his eight of the year, out to left-center.

The Barons added another run in the eighth after Victor Mercedes got things started with a double to right. He moved to third on a chopper to first and scored on a sac-fly by Garrett. After eight, the Barons led 8-3.

Mississippi cut the lead to 8-4 in the bottom of the eighth when T.J. Bohn scored on Kala Ka'aihue's double play grounder.

Villa gave up five runs, four earned, on six hits through three innings of work and left the game trailing, 5-3. Villa fell to 8-11 on the year. Wes Wilkerson gave up two runs in three innings and Michael Nix gave up a run in two innings. Sung Ki Jung threw a shutout ninth to finish out the game.

Ryan Wing surrendered three runs in four innings. Carlos Torres threw two shutout innings to record his second win of the season. Fernando Hernandez threw one shutout inning, Adam Russell threw a shutout inning, and Josh Fields threw a scoreless ninth.

The M-Braves and the Barons will play game four of this five-game series tomorrow night at Trustmark Park at 7:05. The Braves will send righty Charlie Morton to the hill in search of his fifth win while the Barons will counter with righty Kyle McCulloch who's looking for his second W of the year. Tuesday nights are Trustmark Bank Two for Tuesday at the ballpark where all field level box seats, berm grass tickets, hot dogs, fountain drinks, and popcorn will be 2 for 1 (half price).

Mississippi Mentionables:

* Clint Sammons went 1-3 with his fifth homer of the year, a three-run shot. * Mike Rozema went 3-4 as the DH. * T.J. Bohn went 2-4 with two singles. * Diory Hernandez went 1-4 to extend his personal season-high hitting streak to 10 games.

Check out the Mississippi Braves Statistics

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Southern League Stories from August 27, 2007


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