JACKSONVILLE, FL - The Mississippi Braves (9-15, 42-51) dropped a pair of one-run games in walk-off fashion to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (13-10, 42-51) on Sunday afternoon at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Jumbo Shrimp took game one, 2-1, in eight innings and the second contest, 4-3.
JACKSONVILLE, FL - The Mississippi Braves (9-15, 42-51) dropped a pair of one-run games in walk-off fashion to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (13-10, 42-51) on Sunday afternoon at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Jumbo Shrimp took game one, 2-1, in eight innings and the second contest, 4-3.
The doubleheader featured two of the hottest starting pitchers in Minor League baseball in Joey Wentz and Ian Anderson . The duo did not disappoint combining for 11.2 innings of three-run baseball with 14 strikeouts and just three walks. Both settled for no-decisions.
Wentz took the ball in game one and delivered 5.2 innings of one-run baseball, scattering three hits while striking out eight and walking just two. Over the last four starts, the 21-year-old from Kansas has yielded only three runs over 24.1 innings with 35 strikeouts and 11 walks.
Wentz was given a 1-0 lead when Ryan Casteel broke the scoreless tie with his 16th home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning. Casteel leads the club and is tied for third in the league in homers.
Jacksonville brought home their lone run against Wentz in the sixth inning, before turning the game over to the bullpen. Corey Bird pinch-hit to start the sixth and stole second base. He later scored on a J.C. Millan single to tie the game. Jason Creasy pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball to keep the game even at 1-1.
The M-Braves failed to score a run in the top of the eighth inning, and Jacksonville cashed in their bonus runner in the bottom of the frame. Corey Bird laid down a bunt, but M-Braves reliever Claudio Custodio's (L, 3-3) throw to third base was late, placing runners on the corners. The M-Braves walked Brian Miller intentionally to load the bases with no one out. After a strikeout, Joe Dunand was hit by a pitch to force in a run to win in for the Shrimp.
Edward Cabrera matched Wentz on the mound and gave up just one run on six hits in 6.0 innings while striking out six and walking only one. Brett Graves (W, 2-4) pitched 2.0 scoreless innings behind Cabrera to earn the win.
Ian Anderson made his first start since his Futures Game start last Sunday in Cleveland and was quality over 6.0 innings of two-run baseball. The 21-year-old from New York upped his Double-A leading strikeout total to 119 with six punchouts on Sunday afternoon.
Jacksonville scored first in game two in the second inning when Bird ripped an RBI double scoring Lazaro Alonso with two outs.
Mississippi finally got on the board in the fifth. Ray-Patrick Didder led off with a single and swiped one of his two bases during the twin bill. With two outs, Cristian Pache smashed his seventh triple of the season to bring home Didder and tie the game at 1-1.
Bryson Brigman doubled to begin the sixth inning for Jacksonville and after a pop-out Dunand's singled to score Brigman and give Jacksonville a 2-1 advantage.
Down to their final three outs, the M-Braves rallied to tie and take the lead for the first time in the seventh inning. Daniel Lockhart's line drive sacrifice fly off Tommy Eveld (W, 2-3) tied the score in the seventh before Greyson Jenista's pinch-hit home run put the M-Braves up 3-2. The homer was Jenista's third at the Double-A level.
Jason Hursh (L, 2-3) took over for Anderson in the bottom of the seventh inning. Stone Garrett and Bird each singled to start the inning. After a force-out, Millan hit an RBI single to tie the game at three. With two outs, two batters later, Brigman hit a 3-2 pitch into left field scoring the winning run to hand the Jumbo Shrimp back-to-back walk-off wins.
Drew Waters went 1-for-7 during Sunday's doubleheader and still leads professional baseball with 122 hits on the season. Didder finished the doubleheader 3-for-5 with two runs and two stolen bases to lead the offense.
Game five of the six-game series in Jacksonville is on Monday night. RHP Jasseel De La Cruz (2-4, 2.92) gets the nod on the mound for the M-Braves, against LHP Daniel Castano (1-1, 4.82) for the Jumbo Shrimp. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 pm CT with coverage beginning at 5:50 pm CT on 103.9 WYAB, First Pitch App, TuneIn Radio App, and MiLB.tv (subscription required).
The M-Braves return to Trustmark Park for one more homestand this month, July 18-21 against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Visit mississippibraves.com for tickets or call 888-BRAVES4.
