Braves Rally Falls Just Short: L, 3-1

Mark Jurich came up about 10 feet short of a game-tying two-run homerun in the bottom of the 9th inning as the Braves lost to the Lookouts 3-1 in front of an announced crowd of 3,753 fans at Trustmark Park. The Braves (7-12) dropped their second straight game and fell to 49-39 overall on the season. The Lookouts (12-7) increased their lead to 2 games over Tennessee for 1st place in the North Division and improved to 41-48 overall. The Braves finished just 0-for-5 (3-for-22 in the series) with runners in scoring position in the game while the Lookouts finished 3-for-7 (8-for-27 in the series) in that same category.

Johnny Cueto (2-0, 0.47 ERA) was masterful tonight for the Lookouts as he allowed just 3 hits for the second straight game while striking out 8 Braves. His 3 game totals are: 19 innings - 11 hits - 4 walks - 27 strikeouts. Relievers Brock Till and Tyler Pelland combined to one-hit the Braves over 2 innings while Josh Roenicke gave up the only run to the Braves on 2 hits but kept the tying run from scoring as Jurich flew out to end the ballgame.


James Parr (2-2., 4.09 ERA) suffered his second straight loss as he gave up three runs on five hits while walking three and striking out six. All of the runs that the Braves allowed were scored with two outs on the board.

Jose Ascanio was the Braves player of the game as he retired all 9 batters he faced while collecting a strikeout and lowering his ERA to 2.48. The Braves bullpen was untouchable as Ascanio and Michael Nix tossed 4 innings and retired 12 of the 13 batters they faced.

The Braves will wrap up a 4-game series in Pearl, Mississipip at Turstmark Park as they take on the Chattanooga Lookouts, the AA Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, in the final game of their Southern League 4-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 are scheduled to send LHP Kelvin Villa (5-6, 5.34 ERA) to the hill in search of his sixth win. Chattanooga is set to counter with RHP Carlos Fisher (2-4, 3.77 ERA) who’s looking for his second victory of the year. 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 To catch an archived version of tonight's game or any previous MS Braves game head to Minor League Baseball.com and select the day you want to hear.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: 2:34

ATTENDANCE: 3,753 (167,067 Home Total - 3,797 Home Average)

BRAVES BITES:
* The Braves fall to 26-18 at home.
* The Braves fall to 13-23 when their opponents score first.
* The Braves fall to 3-35 when trailing after 8 innings.
* The Braves registered 8 more strikeouts on the mound.(Performance Sports Academy K's for Kids Total: $652 to the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital)

ACTIVE HIT STREAKS (2 games or more):
* Greg Creek - 2 games (2-3, .667)
* Ray Serrano - 4 games (8-19, .421)

* Carl Loadenthal - 5 games (7-19, .368)
* Diory Hernandez - 6 games (10-26, .385)
* Brandon Jones - 8 games (12-33, .364)

HIT STREAKS ENDED:
* J.C. Holt - 4 games (5-18, .278)

HITLESS STREAKS ENDED:
* Mark Jurich - (0-5) - 2nd inning single
* Van Pope - (0-5) - 5th inning single


ACTIVE HITLESS STREAKS:
* Josh Burrus - (0-6)

TRANSACTIONS:
* NONE

by
Bryan Eubank