Game 1: M-Braves 3, Montgomery 1 (8) | Game 2: M-Braves 9, Montgomery 0
Published 1:00 pm Saturday, August 21, 2021
MONTGOMERY, AL – The Mississippi Braves claimed their ninth series of 2021 on Friday night with a doubleheader sweep of the Montgomery Biscuits at Riverwalk Stadium. The Braves took game one, 3-1, in extra-innings, then blanked the Biscuits in the nightcap, 9-0. After the sweep, the M-Braves now lead the league by 6.5 games over second-place Montgomery.
Mississippi (57-37), now 20-games above .500 for the first time since the 2014 season, has won 12 of their last 13 games and seven consecutive road contests. The series victory moves the club to 9-3-4 this season, dropping only one set since May 18.
On Friday, Wendell Rijo led the Braves offensively, finishing 4-for-8 with a homer, double, three RBI, and three runs scored in the two games. His solo home run in the top of the sixth inning in game one put the Braves on the scoreboard first.
Nolan Kingham (W, 6-1) made his first M-Braves start since June 23 and picked up right where he left off with 7.0 innings of one-run baseball, yielding six hits, no walks, and five strikeouts. The Las Vegas native ran his scoreless streak to a new M-Braves record 33 consecutive innings.
Kingham went out for the seventh inning, up 1-0, but the Biscuits rallied to tie the game after a double by Ford Proctor and an RBI single from Joey Roach.
The M-Braves made Kingham a winner by scoring two runs in the top of the eighth inning. Justin Dean was a bonus runner, and he scored immediately on a beautiful bunt from Jacob Pearson that drew an errant throw to first base. Rijo capped the scoring with an RBI single to bring home Pearson and make it 3-1.
Corbin Clouse (S, 1) loaded the bases with a pair of walks in the bottom of the eighth but struck out the next three batters to finish the victory.
Game two was a wild affair. The Braves jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Trey Harris RBI single in the top of the first inning. That came after a Dean single and league-leading 24th stolen base.
Hayden Deal struck out two batters in the bottom of the first inning, but rain halted play for the next 82 minutes. Troy Bacon (W, 3-0) took over for Deal and was magnificent over 2.1 no-hit innings, no walks, and four strikeouts.
Dean added his 25th stolen base in the third inning, and Harris added his second RBI on a sacrifice fly to bring in CJ Alexander.
In the sixth inning, the floodgates opened for the M-Braves, sending ten batters to the plate and pushing across five runs. Jalen Miller capped the inning with a two-run double that saw hits from Harris, Rijo, and Clementina.
The Braves tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning after back-to-back doubles from Rijo and Mitch Calandra. The latter came in his first Double-A at-bat after being activated on Thursday. Jefrey Ramos made it 9-0 with the third double of the inning and fifth in the game.
Deal, Bacon, Will Latcham (H, 6), Indigo Diaz, and Brandon White combined for the 11th shutout of the 2021 season and fifth in the last 12 games.
The M-Braves go for an eighth-straight road win in game five of the six-game series at Riverwalk Stadium on Saturday night. RHP Freddy Tarnok (2-1, 3.16) gets the start for the M-Braves, against RHP Alex Valverde (2-3, 4.68) for Montgomery. The first pitch is 6:05 pm, with coverage on 103.9 WYAB, mississippibraves.com, and MiLB.tv.
The M-Braves will return to Trustmark Park for their penultimate homestand of the season, August 24-29, vs. Pensacola. The homestand features Bark in the Park, First Responders Day, Thirsty Thursday, a Drew Waters MVP Statue Giveaway, Fireworks, and Family Fun Day. For tickets or more information, fans should visit mississippibraves.com or call 888-BRAVES4.
