Braves Reduce Magic Number to 7: W, 6-2

Jo-Jo Reyes won his third straight start Tuesday night improving the Braves to 11-1 when he takes the hill as the Braves took Game 4 of the series (6-2) from West Tennessee in front of 5,005 fans at Trustmark Park. Reyes (7-1, 3.80 ERA) also tossed his first game without allowing a run. With the win the Braves (38-21) maintain their lead in the South Division at 5 games over the Jacksonville Suns. They were also reduced their magic number to clinch the first half down to 7 with 11 games remaining. The Diamond-Jaxx (25-34) remain 7.0 games back in the North Division race as they dropped their sixth straight game.

The Braves scored first for the 42nd time this season as Brandon Jones brought home the first run with an infield single in the first inning. Diory Hernandez followed two batters later with a two-run single to make it 3-0. The Braves added another run in the 2nd inning as Carl Loadenthal chased home Greg Creek with an RBI single. The Braves tried to put the game out of reach with another RBI single by Diory Hernandez and a RBI ground rule double by Clint Sammons making the score 6-0.

The D-Jaxx finally responded in the 8th inning off of Jose Ascanio as Rene Rivera drove home Erick Monzon with an RBI double. Joey Devine entered the game and gave up an RBI single to Charlton Jimerson. He then struck out four of the five batters he faced to end the game and pick up his league-leading 14th save of the season.

Carl Loadenthal was the Braves Players of the Game as finished 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI. He picked up his team-leading 27th walk in the 5th inning and also registered his league-leading 20th stolen base of the season in the 5th inning.

The Braves will wrap up a 5-game series in Pearl, Mississippi at Trustmark Park as they take on the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, the AA Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, in the final game of their Southern League Series. The Braves On Deck Circle presented by Wendy's will air starting at 6:05pm (CT). The First Pitch will follow at 7:05pm (CT). The Braves are scheduled to send LHP Kelvin Villa (3-3, 4.62 ERA) to the hill in search of his 4th win, while the D-Jaxx will counter with RHP Doug Fister (2-6, 4.68 ERA) who is looking for his third victory. 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 To catch an archived version of tonight's game or any previous MS Braves game head to Minor League Baseball.com and select the day you want to hear.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: 3:01 --- ATTENDANCE: 5,005 (101,495-Total --- 3,500-Avg)

BRAVES BITES:
* The Braves improve to 21-8 at home.
* The Braves improve to 30-12 when scoring first.
* Carl Loadenthal is now #9 in the League in hitting.
* The Braves improve to 30-0 when leading after 8 innings.
* The Braves improve to 27-9 when scoring 4 or more runs.
* The Braves improve to 30-10 when not allowing a homerun.
* The Braves are outscoring their opponents 45-16 in the first inning.
* The Braves registered 13 more strikeouts on the mound.(Performance Sports Academy K's for Kids Total: $449 to the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital)

ACTIVE HIT STREAKS (2 games or more):
* JC Holt - 2 games (5-8, 625)
* Mark Jurich - 8 games (13-31, .419)
* Ray Serrano - 6 games (9-20, .450)
* Brandon Jones -3 games (8-15, .533)
* Clint Sammons - 7 games (9-29, .310)
* Diory Hernandez - 3 games (6-12, .500)
* Carl Loadenthal - 11 games (20-43, .465)

HIT STREAKS ENDED:
* Mike Rozema - 8 games (12-33, .364)

HITLESS STREAKS ENDED:
* NONE

ACTIVE HITLESS STREAKS:
* Greg Creek (0-6)
*Matt Esquivel (0-5)
* Mike Rozema (0-7)

TRANSACTIONS:
* J.C. Holt was reassigned from AAA Richmond.

(Players listed in Italics did not play in this game)

by
Bryan Eubank