M-Braves Blast Four Homers, Overwhelm Shuckers 13-2

Milligan and Moritz each hit first Double-A homers and finish a triple shy of cycle

By Jack Sadighian

September 6, 2022

Photo by Mike Krebs PEARL, MS - The Mississippi Braves (58-67, 29-27) blasted four homers, crushing the Biloxi Shuckers (58-66, 24-33) 13-2 on Tuesday night at MGM Park. The M-Braves picked up 15 hits, eight of which went for extra bases. Cody Milligan sparked the offense on the sixth pitch

Photo by Mike Krebs

PEARL, MS - The Mississippi Braves (58-67, 29-27) blasted four homers, crushing the Biloxi Shuckers (58-66, 24-33) 13-2 on Tuesday night at MGM Park.

The M-Braves picked up 15 hits, eight of which went for extra bases.

Cody Milligan sparked the offense on the sixth pitch of the game. He lifted a solo homer to left center field to lead off, his first Double-A home run.

Milligan lasered a two-run double to right center in the next inning to make it 3-0 M-Braves. Playing second base tonight, he went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, a walk and three RBI. Milligan has hit in 17 of the last 19 games and is currently on a five-game hit streak.

Drew Lugbauer and Javier Valdes started the third with back-to-back singles. Cade Bunnell cranked a three-run opposite-field homer to make it 6-0. Andrew Moritz smashed a two-run shot over the scoreboard in right field to extend the lead to 8-0, also his first Double-A home run.

Bunnell homered for the seventh time. He has 30 RBI and a 1.084 OPS. Moritz finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-for-5 with a home run and two doubles. On his first double in the second inning, he slipped around second base and had to retreat to the bag on a play where he had a solid chance of a triple.

RHP Allan Winans went five innings with no earned runs for his first win of the season. In seven starts for the M-Braves, the right-hander is 1-4 with a 2.89 ERA over 37 1/3 innings. He has 34 strikeouts to eight walks.

Justyn-Henry Malloy’s RBI double made it 9-2 in the fifth.

Jalen Miller tanked a three-run shot out to left field in the seventh inning to make it 12-2. Miller walked four times, reaching in five of six plate appearances.

Lugbauer walked to score Justin Dean to make it 13-2. Lugbauer is tied for the league lead with 24 home runs and 72 RBI. Dean reached base four times with a single and three walks.

RHP Indigo Diaz struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the 13-2 win.

The second game of the series is on Wednesday at MGM Park. LHP Dylan Dodd (0-4, 3.22) makes the start for Mississippi against RHP Carlos Luna (4-4, 5.21) for Biloxi. The first pitch is at 6:35 pm CT, with coverage starting at 6:20 pm CT on 103.9 WYAB, First Pitch App, and MiLB.tv.