Friday, September 16 vs. Montgomery Biscuits: 6:35 PM: Trustmark Park
September 16, 2022 – Southern League (SL) – Mississippi Braves News Release
Friday, September 16, 2022 | 6:35 PM CT | Trustmark Park| Pearl, MS
Mississippi Braves (ATL) (61-72, 32-32, T-2nd SL South, -7.0) vs.
Montgomery Biscuits (TB) (68-60, 40-26, 1st SL South, +7.0)
Starting Pitchers: RHP Alan Rangel 5-7, 5.45) vs. LHP Joe LaSorsa (3-0, 3.45)
Game #134 | 2nd Half #65 | Home Game #65
Today’s Roster Moves
N/A
Today’s Promotions:
Austin Riley #13 Jersey Giveaway: The first 1,000 fans will get an Austin Riley jersey, presented by Morgan & Morgan!
Trustmark $10K Dash for Cash: 10 lucky fans will get a chance to race out into the outfield and grab as much cash as possible in one minute!
Kids Run the Bases: After the game, kids get a chance to run the bases like the pros!
Fist Bump Friday: Get your complimentary first bump from one of our staff members on your way through the gate!
TODAY’S GAME: The M-Braves continue a six-game series against the Montgomery Biscuits at Trustmark Park. This is the final series of the regular season. It’s the final countdown.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The M-Braves took a 2-1 series lead with a 5-3 win over the Biscuits. RHP Tanner Gordon earned his ninth win with five innings of two-run ball. The M-Braves scored first with a two-out, two-run single from Riley Delgado in the second. The two clubs exchanged two runs each in the fifth to make it 4-2. Niko Hulsizer homered to left center in the sixth, and Drew Lugbauer homered to the right field bullpen, both solo shots. Lugbuaer went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. RHP Justin Maese picked up his 11th save with a perfect ninth inning.
THE SLUGBAUER MAKING MISSISSIPPI HISTORY: 1B Drew Lugbauer has hit a club-record 46 career M-Braves home runs over two seasons. He hit 18 home runs in 2021 and leads the league with 28 in 2022. On September 9 at Biloxi, he broke the franchise single-season home run record, surpassing Ernesto Mejia (2011) 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 July 8 vs. Pensacola and a walk-off single on June 3 vs. Montgomery. He is in the league’s top 10 in…home runs (28, 1st), RBI (81, 1st), XBH (52, 2nd), walks (74, T-3rd), doubles (24, T-9th), and total bases (207, 2nd).
GIVE ME MO MORITZ: Andrew Moritz homered in back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday- day, for his first two long balls of the season, logging four hits in each game. On the series, the outfielder went 9-for-18 with two homers, three doubles, five RBI and seven runs. Moritz became the first M-Brave to log back-to-back four-hit games since Emerson Landoni had back-to-back five hits, July 12-13 at Chattanooga in 2015. His efforts earned him Southern League Player of the Week.
STRONG STARTING PITCHING: The M-Braves lost eight games in which the starting pitcher made it at least five innings (8/30-9/8), posting a 3.29 ERA (15 ER, 41.0 IP) over that span. The starting pitcher has gone at least five innings in 12 of the last 14 games. THE
GORDON MOBILE: RHP Tanner Gordon is 4-2 with a 3.00 ERA (11 ER/33.0 IP) over his last six starts. He has 34 strikeouts to seven walks over those starts. The right-hander’s ERA has improved each month, highlighted by a 3-0 record and a 3.43 ERA over four starts in August.
DODDZY: Since his promotion on July 12, LHP Dylan Dodd is 2-4 with a 3.11 ERA in 46.1 innings over nine starts. Dodd posted a 2.08 ERA in four starts in August, going an unlucky 0-3. The left-hander has allowed no more than two runs in seven of nine starts with three quality starts.
INDY BALL: RHP Indigo Diaz has not allowed a run in his last 8.2 innings over nine outings. He has four walks to 12 strikeouts, starting on August 17. He is currently ranked as Atlanta’s No. 30 prospect.
CALL HIM MR. MALLOY: In August, Justyn-Henry Malloy hit .301 with three home runs, eight doubles, 15 RBI, 20 walks, 20 runs, and .935 OPS. He shot up the most recent prospect rankings, jumping up 14 spots to No. 13 in the Braves MLB Pipeline Top 30. – Last week at Biloxi, the Georgia Tech product reached base 16 times. He went 8-for-22 with a home run, five RBI, and seven walks.
BIG BAD BUNNELL: Cade Bunnell is currently in his third stint with the M-Braves this season. In 41 games for Mississippi, he is batting .314 with eight home runs, 11 doubles, two triples, 32 RBI, 30 walks, and 1.026 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 a three-run shot in the ninth. Since being promoted for a third time on August 10, he is batting .294 with six homers, 19 walks, 26 RBI, and a .971 OPS in 29 games.
TAKE ‘EM TO THE DELI: INF Riley Delgado keeps on hitting, ranking 6th in the Southern League with a .271 batting average. He holds a 16-game on-base streak, the fourth longest active streak in the Southern League. He had an eight-game hit streak from 7/23-8/4 and an 11- game hit streak from 5/13-25.
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.
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 August 27. On August 29, Bunnell smashed a game-winning grand slam in the ninth. On September 2, the M-Braves scored four runs in the eighth in a 9-7 comeback win over the Smokies.
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