Braves Watch Biscuits Rise Into First Place: L, 5-2

Manager Phillip Wellman gambled by putting his two catchers into the lineup Saturday night at Riverwalk Stadium. The gamble paid off early as Ray Serrano belted a two-run homerun over the left-field wall to bring the Braves back to within one in the second inning. That's as close as the Braves would get as the Biscuits took Game Four by a 5-2 final in front of a an announced crowd of 6,395 fans at Rivewalk Stadium. The Braves (9-15) had another chance to gain some ground on Jacksonville but dropped to 51-43 overall. The Biscuits (18-6) grabbed sole possession of 1st place in the South Division while improving to 53-41 overall on the season. The Braves finished 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position (7-for-30 in the series) in the game while the Biscuits finished 2-for-4 in that same category (10-for-30 in the series).

Kelvin Villa (6-7, 5.29 ERA) struggled through the first three innings as he gave up a three-run homerun to Gabriel Martinez in the 1st inning and an RBI single to Martinez in the 3rd inning. Martinez finished 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs. Phil Stockman made his first appearance as a MS Brave this season with a perfect 6th inning of work while Michael Nix tossed two scoreless frames inducing a double play in the 8th inning to erase a leadoff single by Martinez.

Mike Prochaska (5-7, 4.29 ERA) gave up a two-run homerun by Ray Serrano in the 2nd inning and worked around two other doubles by the Braves in the 3rd and 5th inning. The Biscuits bullpen was spectacular as the retired every batter they faced. The Biscuits three pitchers combined to retire the final 13 Braves batters.

Ray Serranowas the Braves player of the game as he picked up his third homerun of the season and his 13th and 14th RBIs of the season.

Sunday night the Braves will wrap up 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 final game of their Southern League 5-Game Series. The Braves On Deck Circle presented by Wendy's will air starting at 4:05pm (CT). The First Pitch will follow at 6:05pm (CT). The Braves will send RHP Brad Nelson (3-1, 4.50 ERA) to the hill in search of his fourth win while the Biscuits will counter with LHP Jon Barratt (2-6, 4.79 ERA) who is looking for his third 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: 2:27

ATTENDANCE: 6,395

BRAVES BITES:
* The Braves fall to 24-25 on the road.
* The Braves fall to 13-23 when allowing a homerun.
* The Braves fall to 6-18 when scoring 2 or fewer runs.
* The Braves fall to 13-25 when their opponenet scores first.
* The Braves registered 6 more strikeouts on the mound.(Performance Sports Academy K's for Kids Total: $685 to the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital)

ACTIVE HIT STREAKS (2 games or more):
* Greg Creek - 4 games (4-10, .400)
* Ray Serrano - 7 games (11-30, .367)
* Carl Loadenthal - 10 games (15-38, .395)
* Brandon Jones - 13 games (20-52, .385) - sets a new season high

HIT STREAKS ENDED:
* NONE

HITLESS STREAKS ENDED:
* J.C. Holt - (0-11) - 3rd inning single
* Clint Sammons - (0-6) - 2nd inning single

ACTIVE HITLESS STREAKS:
* Matt Esquivel - (0-9)
* Josh Burrus - (0-10)
* Diory Hernandez - (0-11)

TRANSACTIONS:
* RHP Sung Ki Jung was promoted from High-A Myrtle Beach
* RHP Zach Schreiber was promoted to AAA Richmond

(Players in Italics did not play)

by
Bryan Eubank