Braves Prevail in Pitchers Duel

MOBILE, AL - It was no secret coming into Monday night that two of the best pitchers in the Southern League would be displaying their talent on the mound.  The game lived up to the low-scoring prediction, but the BayBears ultimately suffered a tough 1-0 loss with the Mississippi Braves lone run crossing the plate in the top of the 9^th inning.

The starters for both teams were outstanding.  Lefty Alex Wood tossed six innings of shutout baseball for Mississippi, while striking out eight (6IP, 4H, 2BB, 8K).  Not to be outdone, Zeke Spruill gave the BayBears eight scoreless innings while only allowing six Braves to reach base (8IP, 3H, 3BB, 2K). 

In a game with relatively few true scoring opportunities for both sides, the 9^th inning proved to be the deciding factor. 

Spruill gave way to Bryan Woodall who has been perhaps the most reliable option in the BayBears' bullpen for Manager Andy Green.  Woodall began the inning by striking out Luis Nunez, but then gave up a one out single to right fielder Jose Martinez.  With Martinez running on the pitch, Christian Marrero hit a weak ground ball up the middle to shortstop Nick Ahmed.  Martinez beat Ahmed to the bag, but the sure out was still recorded at first.  The next batter, Edward Salcedo, came through with a clutch two out line-drive double in the left center field gap and Martinez scored the only run necessary for the Braves to come away with a victory.

Pat Egan completed scoreless 8^th and 9^th innings to pick up his first victory of the young 2013 season.  The BayBears threatened in the bottom of the 9^th with David Nick picking up a one out walk, followed by a sharp single by Nick Ahmed, but the game concluded with Rossmel Perez grounding into a 6-4-3 double play.

The BayBears will look to snap a four game losing streak and pick up their first win of the series tomorrow as Anthony Meo (0-0, 3.00) takes the hill.  Gus Schlosser (0-1, 9.58) will start for Mississippi with first pitch scheduled for 7:05pm.