Saturday, September 3 vs. Tennessee Smokies: 6:05 PM: Trustmark Park
September 3, 2022 – Southern League (SL) – Mississippi Braves News Release
Saturday September 3, 2022 | 6:05 PM CT | Trustmark Park| Pearl, MS
Mississippi Braves (ATL) (57-66, 28-26, T-2nd SL South, -5.5) vs.
Tennessee Smokies (CHC) (66-58, 29-26, 2nd SL North, -3.0)
Starting Pitchers: RHP Nolan Kingham (1-1, 4.09) vs. RHP Ben Brown (1-0, 5.29)
Game #124 | 2nd Half #55 | Home Game #61
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Today’s Roster Moves
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Today’s Promotions:
Post-Game Fireworks: A Delta Blues-themed fireworks show will light up the night sky after the game, presented by Rick’s Pro Truck!
Negro Leagues Tribute Night: The M-Braves will don 1938 Atlanta Black Crackers home uniforms in partnership with Jackson State University. The Atlanta Black Crackers were a member of the Southern Negro League and eventually the Negro American League. Game-worn jerseys will be available for bidding via silent auction during the game. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the JSU GAP Emergency and Student Scholarship Fund.
American Cancer Society’s Hope At Bat and Real Men Wear Pink Night: Breast cancer affects everyone. That’s why Real Men Wear Pink, a distinguished group of community leaders, is determined to raise awareness and money to support our mission to save more lives than ever from breast cancer.
TODAY’S STARTING LINEUPS
2022 M-BRAVES MEDIA GUIDE
2022 GAME PROGRAM
TODAY’S GAME: The M-Braves continue a six-game series against the Tennessee Smokies at Trustmark Park. This is the final meeting between these two clubs in the regular season.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The M-Braves won their first game of the series 9-7, scoring four runs in the eighth to complete the comeback win. Down 5-3 in the fifth, Cade Bunnell lined a two-run double to right center to tie the game 5-5. Down 7-5 in the eighth, Riley Delgado lasered a double down the third base line to tie the game. Cody Milligan’s two-run single gave the M-Braves the lead 9-7. RHP Justin Yeager picked up his fifth save with a scoreless ninth inning.
STRONG STARTING PITCHING: M-Braves starting pitchers have made it at least five innings in 11 of the last 15 games. All four starters have gone at least five innings in this series: RHP Allan Winans (5.0 IP, 1 ER), LHP Dylan Dodd (6.0 IP, 1 ER), RHP Tanner Gordon (5.0 IP, 1 ER), RHP Alan Rangel (5.0 IP, 3 ER).
CALL HIM MR. MALLOY: Since his promotion on July 12, Justyn-Henry Malloy is hitting .286 with five home runs, 10 doubles, 26 RBI, 29 walks, and .862 OPS in 41 games. He shot up the most recent prospect rankings, jumping up 14 spots to No. 13 in the Braves MLB Pipeline Top 30. – The Georgia Tech product hit .301 in August with three home runs, eight doubles, 15 RBI, 20 walks, 20 runs, and .935 OPS.
BIG BAD BUNNELL: Cade Bunnell is currently in his third stint with the M-Braves this season. In 31 games for Mississippi, he is batting .337 with six home runs, eight doubles, two triples, 26 RBI, 25 walks, and 1.094 OPS. Bunnell was a 40th-round pick in 2019 by Atlanta. – Bunnell logged his first multi-homer game on August 25 at Birmingham, smashing a solo home run in the fourth and three-run shot in the ninth.
THE SLUGBAUER MAKING MISSISSIPPI HISTORY: 1B Drew Lugbauer has hit a club-record 42 career M-Braves home runs over two seasons. He hit 18 home runs in 2021 and is tied for the league lead with 24 in 2022. He is currently two home runs away from tying Ernesto Mejia’s (2012) and Mike Hessman’s (2001) single-season franchise record (26). Lugbauer set a club record with seven RBI on Saturday, July 2, at Biloxi. – 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 (24, T-1st), RBI (71, T-1st), XBH (48, T-2nd), walks (68, 3rd), doubles (24, T-8th), and total bases (186, 4th).
YOSEMITE SAM: INF/OF Cody Milligan has started 55 games in the leadoff spot. He has hit in 15 of his last 17 games since August 10, batting .362 with a .429 OBP and five doubles.
MILLER TIME: INF Jalen Miller is at his best in clutch situations. With RISP, he is batting .339 with two home runs and 31 RBI., With RISP two outs, he’s batting .333 with one homer and 20 RBI. The Atlanta native is batting .235 with seven homers and 38 RBI this season. TAKE ‘EM TO THE DELI: INF Riley Delgado keeps on hitting, ranking 5th in the Southern League with a .274 batting average. He had an eight-game hit streak from 7/23-8/4 and an 11-game hit streak from 5/13-25.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE SMOKIES: The M-Braves won two of six games in a wacky series at Smokies Stadium from August 9-14. Three of the losses came by one run.
– On Friday, August 12, the night’s 30 combined runs set a new Mississippi Braves team record in the 16-14 win. The seven-run fourth inning was a season-high, while the nine-run comeback was the second-largest in team history. The M-Braves became the first team in minor league baseball in 2022 to give up double-digit runs in an inning and win the game.
– The M-Braves lost a pair of 1-0 games. RHP Alan Rangel threw five innings of one-run ball on Thursday, and LHP Dylan Dodd delivered five innings of one-run ball on Saturday.
– The M-Braves attempted another comeback on Sunday. Down 8-4 in the ninth, the Braves scored three runs and brought the tying run to third base but came up short 8-7.
M-BRAVES TO MLB IN 2022: OF Drew Waters (8/22), C Shea Langeliers (8/16), RHP Freddy Tarnok (8/16), INF Vaughn Grissom (8/10), INF Joey Meneses (WSH, 8/2), RHP William Woods (ATL, 4/27), RHP Bryce Elder (4/12), OF Michael Harris II (5/28 from MIS), and LHP Joey Wentz (DET, 5/11) as former M-Braves to make their MLB debut this season. In total, 160 have made their debuts, and 23 have been promoted directly from Mississippi since 2005.
VALDÉS JOINS ELITE COMPANY: Catcher Javier Valdés became the first Mississippi Braves player to homer in his first two Double-A games on Tuesday and Wednesday. He was the first M-Brave to homer in his debut since Ronald Acuña Jr. homered on the first pitch he saw at the Double-A level on May 10, 2017, vs. Mobile. THE GORDON MOBILE: In his last six starts, RHP Tanner Gordon has a 2.90 ERA over 31.0 innings. The Indiana product went at least five innings in five of those six starts. He has eight walks to 29 strikeouts over that span. Gordon finished 3-0 with a 3.48 ERA in the month of August.
THE COMEBACK KIDS: The M-Braves have come back in the eighth inning or later 10 times this season after just two such comebacks last season. Against the Barons, the M-Braves scored four of the final five runs to win an 11-inning thriller on Friday. On Sunday, Bunnell smashed a game-winning grand slam in the ninth.
APRIL SHOWERS, MAY FLOWERS, JUNE THUNDERSTORMS, JULY SUNSHINE, AUGUST TORNADOS: After going 7-13 in April, the M-Braves turned it around with a league-best 16-10 record in May. In June, the club was 7-19, tying their club record for losses in June. The M-Braves went 16-8 in July. The 16 wins were 2nd in AA and T-5th in MiLB and included a six-game sweep of Rocket City (the first six-game sweep in club history). The M-Braves finished 10-15 in August, continuing the remarkable trend.
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