Braves Shut Down the Stars: W, 3-0

Matt Harrison (1-2, 3,91 ERA) tossed seven shutout innings Saturday night helping lead the Braves to their second straight win over the Huntsville Stars in front of an announced crowd of 5,708 at Joe Davis Stadium. Harrison picked up his first AA win of the season, limiting Huntsville to 5 hits while striking out three. Harrison faced 5 over the minimum while retiring 18 of the 20 batters he faced after the leadoff triple by Steve Moss.

The Braves bullpen continued their mastery of the Stars and their recent success in the month of July with two perfect innings by Ascanio and Schreiber. Schreiber (12) picked up his second save in as many nights. The Braves also extended their scoreless inning streak to 14 innings against Huntsville.

The Braves offense was aggressive in the first inning as Josh Burrus scored on a ball hit to right field by slidung under the tag of Lou Palmisano. Jones tried the same feat on a ball hit by Escobar, but was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. The other two runs scored on a wild pitch and an RBI fielder's choice hit into by Josh Burrus.

The Stars went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position as they stranded a leadoff triple in the first and a leadoff double in the second.

The Braves wrap up a five game set in Hunstville Alabama at Joe Davis Stadium as they take on the Huntsville Stars, the AA Affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, in the series finale. First Pitch is set for 6:05 PM (CT). The Braves are scheduled to send LHP Dan Smith (2-5, 6.65 ERA) to the hill while the Stars are scheduled to counter with RHP Corey Thurman (2-8, 2.62 ERA). The Braves On Deck Circle powered by Nextel starts off the broadcast at 5:05 PM (CT) on SuperSport 930. Also Diamond Gems with George Castle will air at 4;05pm. Don't forget if you're headed to the game then take your radio and tune to 103.9-FM exclusively at Joe Davis 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 To catch an archived version of tonight's game or any previous MS Braves game head to Minor League Baseball.com and select the day you want to hear.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:
* The Braves imrpove to 10-4 in shutouts.
* The Braves imrpove to 8-5 in three-run games.
* The Braves improve to 27-17 when scoring first.
* The Braves improve to 10-5 on Saturday nights.
* The Braves improve to 28-19 when not allowing a homerun.
* The Braves improve to 6-9 when scoring at least three runs.
* The Braves improve to 28-0 when leading after eight innings.

HIT STREAKS:
* Mike Rozema extended his hit streak to 3 games… (5-12, .417)
* Yunel Escoabr extended his hit streak to 5 games… (8-19, .421)
* Jarrod Saltalamacchia broke an 0-18 skid with a second inning single.
* Josh Burrus is stuck in an 0-12 slump. Hernandez is 0-for-his-last-15.

TRANSACTIONS:
* Matt Wright was promoted to AAA Richmond.
* Jarrod Saltalamacchia was activated off the Disabled List.

by
Bryan Eubank