M-Braves win fifth-straight Thursday over Biscuits, 4-3, claim South Division 

PHOTO BY MIKE KREBS

PEARL, MS - The Mississippi Braves moved one step closer to clinching home-field advantage in the Championship Series with their fifth-straight win on Thursday, using a season-high six doubles to defeat the Montgomery Biscuits, 4-3. The M-Braves' magic number is one, while the win did give the club the title of South Division Champs in 2021.

Alan Rangel picked up where Jared Shuster left off Wednesday and logged a quality start with 6.0 innings of three-run ball, walking just one and striking out nin. The Hermosillo, MX native, has 129 strikeouts between Rome and Mississippi over 20 starts and 98.2 innings.

The M-Braves (64-40) handed Rangel a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Wendell Rijo hit the first of three doubles in the inning with one out. CJ Alexander brought home Rijo with a double to the right-center gap to put Mississippi on the board. Two batters later, and with two outs, Jacob Pearson logged a nine-pitch at-bat before doubling in Alexander to make it 2-0.

After three scoreless from Rangel, the Biscuits (56-54) rallied for three-straight two-out hits to tie the game. Conner Hollis hit a triple to bring home Ford Proctor and Niko Hulsizer single in Hollis.

In the fourth inning, Biscuits reliever Joel Peguero (L, 3-8) took over for Miller Hogan. The Braves put two on base in the fourth and could not score but went back ahead in the fifth inning. Greyson Jenista and Trey Harris hit back-to-back doubles to go up 3-2, and Braden Shewmake followed with a single to score Harris to make it 4-0.

Before Rangel could end his night, Proctor hit his 10th home run of the season to right in the sixth inning, but that was as close as the Rays' affiliate got on Thursday.

Sean McLaughlin (H, 4) pitched a scoreless seventh inning, Daysbel Hernandez (H, 4) tossed a scoreless eighth, and Brooks Wilson (S, 5) struck out two in the ninth to finish off the win. Wilson has saved back-to-back games and lowered his season-ERA to 2.51.

Alexander and Harris had two hits in the game, with the Braves scoring four runs for the third-straight game. The Braves are now 16-5 against the Biscuits this season. Since August 8, the M-Braves are 19-4 and are a season-best 24 games over .500.

With an opportunity to win the Double-A South regular-season title on Friday, the M-Braves play game four against the Biscuits. RHP Freddy Tarnok (2-2, 2.86) will start for the Braves against RHP Alex Valverde (2-4, 4.02). The first pitch is 6:35 pm with coverage on 103.9 WYAB, mississippibraves.com, and MiLB.TV.

*Friday's Promotions: *

Kid's Backpack Giveaway: The first 500 kids, 14-and-under, will receive a backpack, courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Health.

Kids Run The Bases: Kids, 14-and-under, will have the opportunity to run the bases after every Friday and Sunday home game at Trustmark Park, presented by Game on Wheels.

Trustmark's $10,000 Dash For Cash: After each Friday home game, fans can register for the chance to snag cold hard cash. Then, ten lucky fans will have 1:00 to snag as much of the $10K spread out all over the outfield.