Tyler Duffey
photo by Tim Evearitt
PEARL, MS -- Tyrell Jenkins tossed 5.2 innings of one-hit baseball to lead the Mississippi Braves to a 4-1 victory over the Chattanooga Lookouts Tuesday evening at Trustmark Park. It was also the first Double-A win for Jenkins.
Tyler Duffey (0-1) went seven innings for the Lookouts and took the loss. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits and two walks while fanning two batters.
Jenkins, who entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the No. 12 prospect in the Braves system, walked four and struck out four. He walked the first batter of the game, Byron Buxton, and then retired the next 10 consecutive batters before giving up a double to Miguel Sano.
While some pitchers may be intimidated facing a lineup that includes Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, Tyrell Jenkins was excited.
"I was looking forward to this game because I knew their whole team. Most of those guys I knew from last year," he said. "I would say I had a pretty good outing."
Jenkins (1-1) said he played with Sano while growing up but missed him last season while the Twins' No. 2 prospect recovered from Tommy John surgery. Jenkins also faced Buxton, MLB.com's top overall prospect, in the Florida State and Arizona Fall leagues.
With familiar faces in the other dugout, Jenkins felt even more comfortable on the mound.
"Knowing them did have an effect on the game," he said. "At the end of the day, it's all normal kids. I say kids not in a degrading way -- we're all younger guys. They have talent that is out of this world. They're still learning, I'm still learning."
While he was at ease on the mound, early-season, first-inning jitters got to Jenkins a little as he walked Buxton to start the game.
"When I walked Buxton, I was like, 'Oh, God, here we go.' I threw two sinkers that cut," the 22-year-old right-hander said. "I would say I was just excited. It was the first inning [and] I was excited for those guys, knowing them."
Inning-by-inning recap
Mississippi (7-4) scored four runs on 10 hits while Chattanooga (6-5) plated one run on just two hits. Jorge Reyes and Andrew Robinson worked 1.1 innings in relief, allowing just one hit. Ryan Kelly (S, 4) then came on in the ninth to notch his fourth save of the season.
Daniel Castro led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to left field. He then came around to score on a Rio Ruiz single to left, giving the M-Braves an early 1-0 lead.
Chris O'Dowd and Corban Joseph drew back-to-back walks in the fifth before Matt Lipka added a single to load the bases with one out. Mallex Smith then delivered a sacrifice fly to left field, driving home O'Dowd and extending the M-Braves lead to 2-0.
The M-Braves added another run in the sixth to make it a 3-0 game. Castro singled and moved to second on a ground out. He then came in to score on a Kevin Ahrens base hit to right field.
Chattanooga got on the board in the eighth. Mike Gonzales struck out but reached on a wild pitch. Carlos Paulino then doubled to put runners at the corners before a wild pitch allowed Gonzales to score and cut the Braves lead to 3-1.
O'Dowd and Joseph both singled to start the seventh for the Braves. Lipka then grounded into a force out, allowing O'Dowd to score and make it a 4-1 game.
Box
The Lookouts announced the addition of Max Kepler from Fort Myers. Kepler has played in six games for the Miracle this season and has six hits and two doubles in six games. The Berlin, Germany native is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the team’s 15th overall prospect.
In game three of this five-game series, the M-Braves send right-hander Jake Brigham (0-1, 8.64) to the hill to counter Lookouts righty Jose Berrios (1-0, 3.27). First pitch is slated for 12:00 a.m.
--- Source: Milb.com