Braves Blow Two Leads to Biscuits: L, 8-7

The Braves squandered a pair of three-run leads in the series opener as Reid Brignac belted a walk-off homerun off of Zach Schreiber to take Game One, 8-7 in front of an announced crowd of 3,215 fans at Rivewalk Stadium. It was Brignac's first hit of the night and it came on the first pitch from Schreiber with two outs.

The Braves (8-13) continued their misery at Riverwalk Stadium as they fell to 50-41 overall on the season and 8-24 in Montgomery. The Biscuits (16-5) remained in a tie for 1st place in the South Division with Jacksonville and improved to 51-40 overall and 43-22 against the Braves. The Braves finished just 5-for-15 with runners in scoring position in the game while the Biscuits finished 4-for-8 in that same category.

Mississippi jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first two innings as Matt Esquivel picked up an RBI single with two outs in the first inning and Clint Sammons added a two run single in the second inning. It all disappeared in the bottom of the 4th inning as Moises Hernandez (0-1, 9.82 ERA) gave up a pair of two-out singles to Gabriel Martinez and Shaun Cumberland. Cumberland's single dropped in front of Esquivel and he allowed it to get behind him and roll all the way to the wall allowing Cumberland to score on the play and tie the game at 3-3. Hernandez did not factor in the decision.

Brandon Jones came through in the top of the 6th inning with a two-out three-run double off the center field wall to give the Braves back a three-run lead. The Biscuits responded again in the bottom of the 6th, as Hernandez was unable to get the second out of the inning allowing a two-run double to Gaby Martinez, a wild pitch that allowed Martinez to score and an RBI single to Erold Andrus which gave the Biscuits a 7-6 lead after six innings.

The Braves did show signs of life in the 9th as Brandon Jones tripled off the center field wall against Dale Thayer. Two batters later he came in to score on a two-out double by Mark Jurich. The first two batters that Zach Schreiber (3-5, 2.21 ERA) faced were retired by strikeouts before Brignac took the first pitch he saw and deposited it over the right field wall to end the game.

Brandon Jones was the Braves player of the game as he finished 2-for-5 with a 3-run double and a triple that helped tie the game in the 9th. His 3 RBIs tonight increases his Southern League leading total to 67.

Thursday night the Braves will continue a five game set in Montgomery, Alabama at Riverwalk Stadium as they take on the Montgomery Biscuits, the AA Affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, in the second 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 RHP James Parr (2-2, 4.09 ERA) to the hill in search of his third straight win while the Biscuits will counter with LHP James Houser, Jr. (4-1, 3.48 ERA) who is looking for his fifth victory. Make sure you take your radio to the game and tune to the exclusive Riverwalk Stadium frequency - 104.9-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: 2:45

ATTENDANCE: 3,215

BRAVES BITES:
* The Braves fall to 23-23 on the road.
* The Braves fall to 15-16 in one-run games.
* The Braves fall to 38-18 when scoring first.
* The Braves fall to 12-7 in the first game of a series.
* The Braves fall to 13-21 when allowing a homerun.
* The Braves fall to 5-4 in the first game of a road trip.
* The Braves fall to 38-16 when scoring four or more runs.
* Eight of the Nine Braves in the lineup registered at least one hit. Three collected multi-hit nights.
* The Braves registered 8 more strikeouts on the mound.(Performance Sports Academy K's for Kids Total: $670 to the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital)

ACTIVE HIT STREAKS (2 games or more):
* Matt Esquivel - 2 games (2-7, .286)
* Van Pope - 3 games (3-10, .300)
* Greg Creek - 3 games (3-6, .500)
* Ray Serrano - 5 games (9-23, .391)
* Carl Loadenthal - 7 games (11-28, .393)
* Diory Hernandez - 8 games (12-32, .375) - ties season high
* Brandon Jones - 10 games (16-42, .381) - sets a new season high

HIT STREAKS ENDED:
* NONE

HITLESS STREAKS ENDED:
* Mark Jurich - (0-6) - 2nd inning single
* Clint Sammons - (0-5) - 2nd inning 2-run single

ACTIVE HITLESS STREAKS:
* Mike Rozema - (0-4)
* Josh Burrus - (0-7)

TRANSACTIONS:
* NONE

by
Bryan Eubank