Williams Perez kept the Lookouts scoreless over six innings.
photo by Tim Evearitt
With strong arms on the mound and a red-hot offense, the Mississippi Braves (25-20) took the first game of five against the Chattanooga Lookouts (17-28) by a score of 9-3.
Pitching on his 23rd birthday, M-Braves starter Williams Perez held the Braves scoreless over six innings, yielding just two hits.
Coming into the game, the Braves had gone 13-5 in the month of May, including winning four of their last five games in a home series against the Tennessee Smokies. They didn't show any signs of slowing down, amassing nine runs on 14 hits against the Lookouts' pitching staff.
Chattanooga found themselves down 6-0 early and gave up one more run in the fifth and two more in the sixth. The Lookouts' offense began to show signs of life in the eighth inning, when Ryan Adams and Jeremy Hazelbaker hit back-to-back singles with one out. O'Koyea Dickson was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, allowing Scott Schebler to extend his team-leading RBI total to 25 on a fielder's choice.
They saved the best for last, as the ninth inning was led off with three consecutive singles by Daniel Mayora, Noel Cuevas, and pinch hitter J.C. Boscan. Darnell Sweeney added a sacrifice fly to right, giving the Lookouts their third and final run of the evening.
The eighth inning hit for Adams was his second of the night, giving him his first multi-hit game of the year, in only his second start since the beginning of May.
Thursday night's game features Tyson Brummett (3-3, 1.28), who has been dominating opposing hitters all season, facing the Braves' Aaron Northcraft (4-2, 2.70).
Notes: Lookouts ' pitchers combined to strike out 10 Braves on the night, bringing their total to 353 on the season, good for fourth best in the Southern League....The Dodgers called up Lookouts shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena. Known mostly for his great defensive play, he has been on a roll at the plate recently. Arruebarrena recorded a hit in six of his last seven games, hitting .379 during that stretch. He also hit his first career Minor League home run on 5/18 against the Mobile BayBears.
Jeremy Hazelbaker makes a great running catch.
photo by Tim Evearitt