Braves Give Away Game One to Lookouts: L, 6-5

The Braves were unable to hold three separate two-run leads Monday night as the Lookouts rallied to take Game One, 6-5, in front of a crowd of 2,847 fans at AT&T Field. The Braves (12-19) have now dropped two in a row and fallen to 54-47 overall. The Lookouts (16-15) moved to within 3 games of the lead in the North Division, as Huntsville had their 12-game win streak halted, while improving to 45-56 overall on the season.

The Braves grabbed an early 2-0 lead on Matt Esquivel's league-tying 19th Homerun in the first inning. It marked the 61st time out of 101 games that the Braves had scored first in a game. The Braves had the lead trimmed to one in the 2nd inning on an RBI double by Caonabo Cosme. The Braves recaptured their two-run lead in the 4th inning with an RBI double by Mark Jurich, only to see it trimmed again in the 5th inning by Drew Anderson and his 7th Homerun of the season. The Braves once again extended their lead back to two in the 6th inning with an RBI single by Matt Esquivel.

The bullpens took over and the Lookouts outshined the Braves as they held the Braves to just one run over the last three innings while the Braves pen gave up 4 runs in the last two frames to allow the Lookouts to grab Game One.

Moises Hernandez exited with the lead but the two-run two-out single by Caonabo Cosme off of Charlie Morton prevented him from picking up his 2nd win. Rich Scalamandre (0-1, 7.71 ERA) was tagged with a blown save and the loss as he allowed a solo Homerun to Adam Rosales and a two-out RBI single to former MSU Bulldog Craig Tatum which gave Chattanooga the lead.

Matt Esquivel was the Braves player of the game as he broke out of a difficult 1-16 series with Jacksonville by finishing 2-for-4 at the plate with 3 RBIs. He belted a two-run Homerun in the first inning and an RBI single in the 6th inning. He is now tied with Charlton Jimerson and Evan Longoria with a league-leading 19 Homeruns. He is also now 2nd in the league in RBIs with 70.

The Braves finished 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position in the game while the Lookouts finished 3-for-17 in that same category. The Braves left 4 men on base. The Lookouts left 13 stranded on base.

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 second 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 RHP James Parr (3-2, 4.09 ERA) to the hill in search of his fourth win. The Lookouts will counter with RHP Carlos Fisher (3-5, 3.64 ERA) who is also 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: 2:49

ATTENDANCE: 2,847

BRAVES BITES:
* The Braves fall to 25-26 on the road.
* The Braves fall to 17-18 in one-run games.
* The Braves fall to 42-19 when scoring first.
* The Braves fall to 40-19 when scoring 4 or more runs.
* The Braves registered 7 more strikeouts on the mound.(Performance Sports Academy K's for Kids Total: $744 to the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital)

ACTIVE HIT STREAKS (2 games or more):
* Mark Jurich - 2 games (2-8, .250)
* Matt Esquivel - 2 games (3-8, .375)
* Clint Sammons - 2 games (3-8, .375)
* Matt Young - 3 games (4-7, .571)
* J.C. Holt - 8 games (15-33, .455)

HIT STREAKS ENDED:
* Diory Hernandez - 2 games (2-8, .250)

HITLESS STREAKS ENDED:
* NONE

ACTIVE HITLESS STREAKS:
* Greg Creek (0-5)
* Ray Serrano (0-7)
* Van Pope (0-8)

TRANSACTIONS:
* NONE

(Players in Italics did not play)

by
Bryan Eubank