PEARL — One bad pitch, and one bad inning, kept the Mississippi Braves stuck in neutral in the Southern League standings.

Montgomery’s Jose Lobaton crushed a three-run homer during a four-run outburst in the second inning Tuesday, and the Biscuits handed the M-Braves their second straight loss, 5-1, at Trustmark Park.

The loss, combined with first-place Jacksonville’s win over Huntsville on Tuesday, dropped the Braves (50-58 overall, 19-20 in the second half) eight games back in the Southern League’s South Division.

The M-Braves can win their fourth consecutive series by beating Montgomery tonight. They have not, however, been able to string together an extended winning streak that would pull them closer to first place. In three of their last four series, the M-Braves have lost at least two games in a row.

“We still have a chance to win the series. We’ve won two or three in a row and it’d be nice to win tomorrow. But winning series is not going to be enough for us. We have to win some of them four out of five,” M-Braves manager Phillip Wellman said.

The Braves had two chances late in Tuesday’s game to pull closer. They had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and with two outs in the ninth. A pop-up and an inning-ending double play killed the first rally, and a game-ending strikeout by Brandon Hicks stopped the threat in the ninth.

Misissippi’s only run came on a leadoff homer by Matt Young in the seventh inning. Montgomery starter Aneury Rodriguez (7-10) allowed just the one run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Paul Phillips threw two innings of shutout relief, and Matthew Gorgen finished up for his second save in as many games.

“Offensively, we never really presented ourselves with opportunities,” Wellman said. “We could have gotten back in it with a hit there in the eighth. Good teams execute in that situation, and that’s why we’re under .500.”

Montgomery (50-58, 18-21) is also under .500, but did execute when given the opportunity.

A one-out single, walk and an RBI single by Cody Strait put the Biscuits ahead 1-0 in the top of the second and left runners at first and third. Lobaton then blasted a fastball from M-Braves starter Edgar Osuna high over the left field wall and off the top of a covered walkway. The shot made it 4-0, and gave Rodriguez all the run support he needed.

Matt Fields added a solo homer in the seventh inning to make it 5-0. Lobaton finished the game 2-for-3 with a homer, double and three RBIs, and Strait went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Other than the second inning, Osuna (3-3) pitched well. He only gave two other hits in six innings, walked one, and retired 12 of the last 14 batters he faced.

“A couple of bad pitches in crucial times. You can live with the two-out single, but not the three-run bomb,” Wellman said. “(Osuna) was getting himself in trouble. Pitching behind in the count. Other than that, he was all right.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com