Braves Fall Apart in Series Finale: L, 7-5

Sebastian Boucher ripped a two-run single back up the middle off of reliever Joey Devine as the D-Jaxx rallied from a 3-run defecit to come-from-behind to beat the Braves in front of a season high announced crowd of 2,976 at Pringles Park. With the loss and the Barons win the Braves are back in 2nd place in the South Division, a game back of the Birmingham Barons.

It appeared Kelvin Villa (1-1, 3.77 ERA) would pick up his second win of the season as Brandon Jones belted his 2nd Homerun of the season to lead off the 6th and Josh Burrus led off the 7th with his 2nd Homerun to give the Braves a 2-run cushion. The Braves added a 5th run on an RBI single by Brandon Jones which capped the scoring for Mississippi.

The Braves bullpen, entered the night with a 1.94 ERA, imploded in the 8th as the D-Jaxx scored 5 runs on just 2 hits, 4 walks and a hit batsman. Joey Devine (1-2, 3.00 ERA) was responsible for 3 of the 4 walks as he was charged with his 2nd loss of the season.

The Braves (10-5) got the scoring started in the 2nd inning as Greg Creek walked and moved to third on a Mark Jurich single. He came in to score on a wild pitch by starter Joe Woerman. Then the D-Jaxx (6-9) responded with a 2-run Homer by Rene Rivera off of Kelvin Villa. It was just the 3rd Homerun allowed by the Braves this season.

The Braves responded in the 3rd as Brent Lillibridge picked up his 1st triple of the season. He came into score as Esquivel bounced into a Fielder's Choice.

Once again the Braves struggled with runners in scoring position as they finished 2-for-10 in that category, while the D-Jaxx went just 2-for-8 in that same category.

The Braves will start up a five game set in Pearl, Mississippi at Trustmark Park as they take on the Birmingham Barons, the AA Affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, in the series opener. The Braves On Deck Circle presented by Wendy's will start things off at 6:05pm, with the First Pitch to follow at 7:05pm (CT). The Braves are scheduled to send LHP Matt Harrison (2-0, 1.69 ERA) to the hill for his fourth start of the year, while the Barons will counter with RHP Adam Russell (1-1, 2.25 ERA) also in his fourth start of the season. Make sure you take your radio to the game and tune to the exclusive Trustmark Park frequency - 104.3-FM.

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 To catch an archived version of tonight's game or any previous MS Braves game head to Minor League Baseball.com and select the day you want to hear.

GAME TIME: 3:19 --- ATTENDANCE: 2,976

BRAVES BITES:
* The Braves fell to 8-4 when scoring first.
* The Braves have lost 2 of their last 3 games.
* The Braves fell to 6-1 when hitting a homerun.
* The Braves have at least one extra base hit in every game this season.
* The Braves finished 10-for-45 with runners in scoring position in the series.
* The Braves registered 5 more strikeouts on the mound.(Performance Sports Academy K's for Kids Total: $122 to the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital)

ACTIVE HIT STREAKS (3 games or more):
* Jarrod Saltalamacchia - 4 games - (8-16, .500) - DNP
* Brandon Jones - 3 games - (5-10, .500)
* Mark Jurich - 5 games - (6-17, .353)
* Greg Creek - 4 games - (6-14, .429)

HIT STREAKS ENDED:
* NONE

HITLESS STREAKS ENDED
* Brent Lillibridge (0-12) - (1-4. 3B, 2 Runs Scored)

ACTIVE HITLESS STREAKS (More than 0-4)
* Diory Hernandez (0-9)

TRANSACTIONS:
* Ryan Basner activated off of Disabled List.
* Michael Nix returned to Myrtle Beach.

by
Bryan Eubank