Braves Bats Fall Silent in Game Three: L, 2-1

Despite J.C. Holt's efforts Thursday night the Braves were still unable to get the big hit when they needed it as they dropped Game Three, 2-1, to the Jacksonville Suns in front of a crowd of 3,820 fans at Trustmark Park. The Braves (11-17) have now lost two in a row and dropped to 53-45 overall. The Suns (20-8) kept pace with the Montgomery Biscuits and remained in a tie for 1st place in the South Division with Montgomery while improving to 61-37 overall on the season.


J.C. Holt finished the night a homerun shy of the cycle but only manaaged to score once. He led off the bottom of the first inning with a double buy Loadenthal struck out, Jurich flied out and Esquivel struck out as well to end the frame. Holt started a two-out rally in the 3rd with a single which Loadenthal followed with a single only to see Jurich fly out to center to end the inning. Then finally in the 6th Holt picked up his 2nd triple of the series and came into score two pitches later on a single by Carl Loadenthal. The Braves managed to get the tying run to third base in the 8th inning and second base in the 9th inning but failed to score it both times.


Matt Harrison (5-6, 3.25 ERA) pitched good enough for a win but allowed a two-out walk to Juan Gonzalez which was followed by an RBI double by James Tomlin and an RBI single by Cory Dunlap that gave the Suns a 2-0 lead they would not relinquish. Brad Nelson and Charlie Morton both tossed scoreless innings of relief in the 7th, 8th and 9th.

Justin Orenduff (6-3, 3.54 ERA) was able to work avoid J.C. Holt from hurting him except with his 6th inning triple. He along with the bullpen kept the bottom six of the order hitless until the 9th inning single by Mike Rozema.

J.C. Holt was once again the Braves player of the game as he finished 3-for-5 at the plate with a single, double and triple and also scored the Braves only run. He extended his hit streak to 5 games (10-23, .435) and pushed his season average up to a team-leading .320.

The Braves finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position (9-for-39 in the series) in the game while the Suns finished 1-for-8 in that same category (7-for-27 in the series). The Braves left 9 men on base and have now left 25 on base in the series. The Suns left 8 stranded and have left 23 on base in the series.

The Braves will continue a five game set in Pearl, Mississippi at Trustmark Park as they take on the Jacksonville Suns, the AA Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the fourth game of their Southern League 5-Game 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 will send LHP Kelvin Villa (6-7, 5.29 ERA) to the hill in search of his seventh win. The Suns will counter with LHP Mike McGrew (6-6, 5.67 ERA) who is also looking for his seventh 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: 2:42

ATTENDANCE: 3,820 (180,535 - 3,761 Home Avg)

BRAVES BITES:
* The Braves fall to 28-20 at home.
* The Braves fall to 16-17 n one-run games.

* The Braves fall to 6-19 when scoring 2 or more runs.
* The Braves fall to 6-12 when scoring in just one inning.

* The Braves fall to 13-27 when their opponent scores first.
* The Braves registered 11 more strikeouts on the mound.(Performance Sports Academy K's for Kids Total: $710 to the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital)

ACTIVE HIT STREAKS (2 games or more):
* J.C. Holt - 5 games (10-23, .435)
* Ray Serrano - 7 games (11-30, .367)
* Carl Loadenthal - 14 games (23-54, .426)

HIT STREAKS ENDED:
* Clint Sammons - 2 games (2-8, .250)
* Van Pope - 5 games (6-20, .300)

* Greg Creek - 5 games (5-15, .333)


HITLESS STREAKS ENDED:
* Mark Jurich (0-8) - 8th inning single

* Mike Rozema (0-10) - 9th inning single

ACTIVE HITLESS STREAKS:
* Josh Burrus (0-4)

* Diory Hernandez (0-7)

* Matt Esquivel (0-10) - with 7 strikeouts

TRANSACTIONS:
* LF Brandon Jones promoted to AAA Richmond.

(Players in Italics did not play)

by
Bryan Eubank