Braves Recent Struggles Continue: L, 4-2

Isaiah Ka'aihue made his AA debut but was held hitless as the MS Braves lost their third straight game to the Lookouts at AT&T Field, 4-2, in front of a crowd of 2,546 fans. It was the fourth straight loss for the Braves (12-21) who have now lost 6 of their last 7 and fallen to 54-48 overall. The Lookouts belted their sixth homerun of the series for the Lookouts (18-15) as they picked up their sixth win in their last eight games, while improving to 47-56 overall on the season. The Lookouts have 36 hits through three games this series, with 18 going for extra bases.

The Lookouts broke a scoreless tie with a two-out two-run homerun by Mike Griffin in the fourth inning. It was his first homerun of the year on just his fourth hit of the season. The Lookouts added to their lead with a two-out RBI triple by Marland Williams and an RBI single by J.C. Boscan in the 6th inning.

The Braves finally responded in the 7th inning as Mark Jurich, Ray Serrano, and Matt Young loaded up the bases with three straight singles. Van Pope followed with a bases-loaded walk to break the shutout. Josh Burrus drove in the Braves second run with a sacrifice fly. The promising inning came to a crashing halt as J.C. Holt and Carl Loadenthal struck out to end the inning with runners at second and third base.

Matt Harrison (5-7, 3.39 ERA) continued his recent woes as he lost for the fifth time in his last six starts. Michael Nix tossed the final two innings for the Braves and continued his scoreless inning streak to 16 and 1/3.

Matt Young was the Braves player of the game as he finished 3-for-4 at the plate raising his average to .438 in just 4 games.

The Braves finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the game (7-for-31 in the series) while the Lookouts finished 3-for-8 (10-for-35 in the series) in that same category. The Braves left 8 men on base (22 in the series). The Lookouts left 8 stranded on base (26 in the series).

The Braves will continue a five game set in Chattanooga, Tennessee at AT&T Field as they take on the Chattanooga Lookouts, the AA Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, in the fourth game of their Southern League 5-Game Series. The Braves On Deck Circle presented by Wendy's will air starting at 5:15pm (CT). The First Pitch will follow at 6:15pm (CT). The Braves will send LHP Kelvin Villa (6-7, 4.98) to the hill in search of his seventh win. The Lookouts will counter with RHP Johnny Cueto (3-1, 2.67 ERA) who is looking for his fourth victory. Make sure you take your radio to the game and tune to the exclusive AT&T Field frequency - 107.3-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: 2:55

ATTENDANCE: 2,546

BRAVES BITES:
* The Braves fell to 25-28 on the road.
* The Braves fell to 14-27 when allowing a homerun.
* The Braves fell to 13-30 when their opponent scores first.

ACTIVE HIT STREAKS (2 games or more):
* Mark Jurich - 4 games (5-17, .294)
* Clint Sammons - 4 games (5-14, .357)

HIT STREAKS ENDED:
* J.C. Holt - 9 games (18-37, .455) - tied a season high

HITLESS STREAKS ENDED:
* Matt Young (0-5) - 2nd inning single
* Van Pope (0-9) - 9th inning single

ACTIVE HITLESS STREAKS:
* Ray Serrano (0-9)

TRANSACTIONS:
* INF Isaiah Ka'aihue promoted from High-A Myrtle Beach.

(Players in Italics did not play)

by
Bryan Eubank