Braves Win in Extras: W, 6-5 (10)

The Braves and Lookouts battled back-and-forth for nine innings before Brandon Jones gave the packed house something to cheer about as he rapped a walk-off single down the right field line to score Carl Loadenthal and give the Braves a series opening win over Chattanooga in front of an announced crowd of 6,014 fans at Trustmark Park. The Braves (7-10) evened their season series with the Lookouts at 3-3 and improved to 49-37 overall on the season. The Lookouts (10-7) remained in 1st place in the North Division but fell to 39-48 overall. The Braves finished just 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the game while the Lookouts squandered many chances as they finished 5-for-16 in that same category.

Chattanooga jumped out to an early lead as Adam Rosales, hit a lead-off home run to start the game. That was followed by a two-out walk (four batters later) to Paul Janish, an RBI single to former MSU Bulldog Craig Tatum, and a two-run single to Luis Bolivar. When the dust settled the Lookouts were up 4-0.

The Braves responded in the bottom of the first as J.C. Holt led off with a broken-bat single which was followed by a Carl Loadenthal walk. Brandon Jones then smashed his 12th homer of the year to center field to cut the Lookouts lead to 4-3. The Braves tied the game with a sacrifice fly by Brandon Jones to bring in Loadenthal who tripled to start the inning.

The Braves bullpen surrendered their first run of the series in the 7th inning as Craig Tatum brought in Jay Bruce with a sac fly. The Braves again responded in the bottom of the 7th with a leadoff double by Van Pope, a sac bunt by pinch-hitter Josh Burrus and an RBI groundout by J.C. Holt to tie the game at 5-5.

In the bottom of the ninth, Ray Serrano hit a ground-rule double that was originally called a home run. The homer would’ve ended the game, instead Serrano was sent back to second by third base umpire Joseph Smith. Manager Phillip Wellman came out to dispute the call and was ejected from the game by Smith.

Carl Loadenthal walked to get things started for the Braves in the tenth. He stole second to get into scoring position then came in to score the game-winning run on Jones’ walk-off single.

In his second career AA start, Moises Hernandez gave up four runs in the top of the first inning. He recovered to hold the Lookouts to two hits and no runs over his final four innings. In all, Hernandez gave up four runs on six hits in five innings of work. Charlie Morton gave up one run on three hits in his two innings of work. Wes Wilkerson then threw two scoreless innings for the Braves and Michael Nix came on and threw one shutout inning to notch his fourth win of the year.

Brandon Jones was the Braves player of the game as finished with 2-for-4 with 5 RBIs (second 5-RBI night of the year). He now has a league-leading 62 RBIs.

The Braves will continue 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 second 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 Matt Harrison (5-4, 3.44) to the hill in search of his sixth win. Chattanooga is set to counter with RHP James Avery (7-8, 4.79) who’s looking to return to .500 with his eighth win of ’07. 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: 3:16

ATTENDANCE: 6,114 (160,553 Home Total - 3,823 Home Average)

BRAVES BITES:
* The Braves improve to 26-16 at home.
* The Braves improve to 9-4 when tied after 8 innings.
* The Braves improve to 13-6 in the first game of a series.
* The Braves improve to 37-15 when scoring 4 or more runs.
* The Braves improve to 6-4 in the first game of a homestand.
* The Braves improve to 13-22 when their opponent scores first.
* The Braves registered 12 more strikeouts on the mound.(Performance Sports Academy K's for Kids Total: $640 to the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital)

ACTIVE HIT STREAKS (2 games or more):
* J.C. Holt - 3 games (4-13, .308)
* Carl Loadenthal - 3 games (5-10, .500)
* Ray Serrano - 3 games (6-15, .400)
* Van Pope - 4 games (7-16, .438)
* Diory Hernandez - 4 games (6-18, .333)
* Brandon Jones - 6 games (10-26, .385)

HIT STREAKS ENDED:
* Mark Jurich - 4 games (6-14, .429)

HITLESS STREAKS ENDED:
* NONE

ACTIVE HITLESS STREAKS:
* Mark Jurich - (0-4)
* Josh Burrus - (0-6)
* Clint Sammons - (0-13)

TRANSACTIONS:
* NONE

by
Bryan Eubank