Lookouts starter Kevin Abel had an outstanding pitching performance Friday night, limiting the Mississippi Braves to just one hit which led to a 3-0 shutout win for Chattanooga. Abel (W, 5-6) and former M-Brave Patrick Weigel (S, 8) combined to retire 21 straight batters to end the game.
David Fletcher (L, 3-5) logged his sixth quality in 14 starts and worked through 6.0 innings on Friday night. The knuckleballer gave up three runs on ten hits, walking two. The Lookouts pushed across their first run in the third inning on an RBI single by Tyler Callihan.
The Lookouts (18-30, 38-79) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning on four straight hits, capped off with a Nick Northcut RBI double and Bubba Thompson RBI single.
Jake McSteen picked up the game after Fletcher exited and worked 3.0 shutout innings on three hits, walking one and striking out five. Abel, the Chattanooga starter, set a new career high with 8.0 shutout innings on one hit - surrendering two base runners - a David McCabe walk in the first and a Sebastian Rivero single in the third. Weigel dealt a 1-2-3 ninth and got his second save in the series.
With 21 games remaining, the M-Braves (25-24, 56-61) trail first-place Montgomery by 3.0 games in the Southern League South Division standings and second-place Biloxi by 2.5 games.
Game five of the six-game series is on Saturday night at Trustmark Park. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 pm with RHP Ian Mejia (7-5, 3.48) starting for Mississippi against Chattanooga RHP Jose Acuna (0-2, 0.98). Coverage begins at 5:50 pm on 102.1 The Box, Bally Live, and MiLB.tv.