M-Braves beat Biscuits to snap five-game slide
Published 12:12 am Sunday, April 24, 2011
Coming home to Trustmark Park was a cure for all the Mississippi Braves’ ills.
Mathew Kennelly went 2-for-2 with a solo home run, Jordan Kreke drove in two runs, and the M-Braves snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Montgomery Biscuits 7-4 on Saturday night.
All five losses came on the road, where the M-Braves were swept in a series by Birmingham. Mississippi went 2-8 on its 10-game trip to Mobile and Birmingham, but is now 3-4 at home this season. Game two of the five-game series with Montgomery is set for today at 1:05 p.m.
The M-Braves snapped a 2-2 tie Saturday night and took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Singles by Willie Cabrera and Donell Linares set up Kreke, who drove both teammates in with a double to left field. Kennelly’s homer leading off the seventh made it 5-2.
Montgomery got a run back in the eighth on an RBI single by Nevin Ashley, and scored another in the ninth on an RBI triple by Stephen Vogt. The M-Braves also scored twice in the eighth, however, and reliever Billy Bullock worked out of the jam in the ninth.
Bullock struck out three batters in the ninth to earn his second save of the season. Four M-Braves pitchers combined to register 14 strikeouts in the game.
Tim Beckham and Vogt had three hits apiece for Montgomery, and Vogt drove in two runs.
Mississippi’s Randall Delgado pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and an earned run in the start. He struck out seven and walked one, and ended up with a no-decision. Rowdy Hardy (1-2) picked up the win in relief, throwing 2 2/3 innings of hitless and scoreless baseball.
The loss was charged to Montgomery reliever Jeremy Hall (1-2), who allowed five hits and five runs in 2 2/3 innings.