Braves Push Win Streak to Five: W, 7-4

The Braves continued their winning ways with a rain-delayed victory over the Carolina Mudcats in front of an announced crowd of 4,238 at Five County Stadium. After a one hour and sixteen minute rain delay the Braves sent Jose Ascanio to relieve Daniel Curtis and he retired nine of the first eleven batters that he faced. He also led off the fifth inning with his first hit as a Mississippi Brave, a solo homerun to left that put the Braves in front 3-0.

Yunel Escobar had a banner night going 3-4 with three doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. It’s the second time this season that Escobar has picked up three doubles in a game. He now has eleven on the season.

Mudcats starter James Russ (2-6, 4.36 ERA) was the only starter to return after the delay and he was touched up in the fourth and fifth for 5 runs and 6 hits including the Ascanio homerun.

The Braves bullpen got the job done as Ascanio pitched three innings of relief, while Tucker finished the sixth and tossed a perfect seventh. Arthur Santos faced the minimum in the eighth, before Zach Schreiber recorded his fourth save of the season in as many tries since joining the team on May 7th.

The Braves continue on in Zebulon, North Carolina as they play game two of a five-game set against the Carolina Mudcats Saturday night at 6:15 CT. The Braves will send RHP Sean White (2-3, 4.97 ERA) to the hill while Carolina counters with RHP Anibal Sanchez (2-4, 3.58 ERA). The Braves On Deck Circle powered by Nextel starts off the broadcast at 5:15pm (CT) on SuperSport 930. If you're headed to Zebulon, NC don't forget to bring your radios and tune into 107.5 FM exclusively at Five County Stadium.

Check out the Braves Minute here. To catch an archived version of tonight's game or any previous MS Braves game head to Minor League Baseball.com and select the day you want to hear.

BRAVES BITES:

* First five-game win streak of the year.
* Braves have won seven of their last eight games.
* The Braves improved to 14-8 when scoring first.
* The Braves improved to 17-0 when leading after 8 innings.
* Joshua Arteaga extended his hit streak to 2 games… (4-8, .500)
* Gregor Blanco extended his hit streak to 5 games… (7-19, .368)
* Yunel Escobar extended his hit streak to 4 games… (7-15, .467)
* Jarrod Saltalamacchia picked up his first two-RBI game since April 25th.
* Barbaro Canizares was scratched from the lineup prior to gametime.
* The Braves are now 4-1 on the road on Friday nights.

by
Bryan Eubank