PEARL, MS -- The Mississippi Braves (23-26) came up short for the third straight game against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (28-21) as the visitors took the series with a 4-2 victory Saturday night. Game four trended back in the direction of the first two games in the series, as hits were
PEARL, MS -- The Mississippi Braves (23-26) came up short for the third straight game against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (28-21) as the visitors took the series with a 4-2 victory Saturday night. Game four trended back in the direction of the first two games in the series, as hits were at a premium, despite all four hits for Mississippi being extra-base hits.
For the Braves, Max Fried (2-7) breezed through the first inning with no trouble and appeared to have the leadoff man out in the second when Aristedes Aquino hit a fly ball into right-center. Unfortunately, Keith Curcio and Ronald Acuña Jr. mis-communicated and the ball dropped for a double. Two batters later Alex Blandino blasted a two-run homer. Atlanta's No. 4 prospect settled in after that, working the third, fourth and fifth without getting into trouble.
In the sixth, a two-out double from Blandino made it 3-1 Pensacola. With a walk to the next batter, Fried was pulled in favor of Evan Phillips. Phillips gave up a run-scoring single to Blake Trahan before recording the final out and closing the book on Fried, who took the loss in 5.2 innings, giving up all four runs on six hits. He also walked four and struck out six. In relief, Phillips struck out four in just 2.1 innings and allowed just two hits while walking one. Rex Brothers came in to pitch a hitless ninth with a walk and a strikeout.
Offensively, the M-Braves reverted back to the first two games of the series, only managing four hits against three Pensacola pitchers. Deck McGuire (5-2) got the start and the victory in six solid innings. The right-hander allowed two runs on four hits, including a solo shot by Kade Scivicque in the third, while fanning nine M-Braves without a walk. Domingo Tapia and Geoff Broussard combined for three hitless innings to finish the game with Broussard picking up his fifth save. Together, Wahoos pitchers struck out thirteen M-Braves with just two walks.
At the plate, Mississippi had four hits from four separate batters. Scivique picked up his second home run of the year, a towering shot that hugged the foul line in left field but cleared the foul pole by 20 feet. Jared James and Curcio each added a triple and Acuna added a double to the tally. Despite the power at the plate, the M-Braves left five runners on base and came up short in the series-clinching loss.
The series finale is set for 1:00 PM Sunday at Trustmark Park.
Pensacola: 4-8-2
Mississippi: 2-4-0
WP: McGuire 5-2
LP: Fried 2-7
SV: Broussard
Attn: 3626
Time: 2:43
