Offense stays hot in 9-5 series-opening win over Smokies

KODAK, TN - The Mississippi Braves continued their 10-game road trip in East Tennessee on Thursday, and the bats remained red-hot with the offense producing 16 hits in a 9-5 win over the Tennessee Smokies in front of 7,546 young fans at Smokies Stadium. The Braves (19-22) notched a hit in every inning and scored in six of nine frames to win their third straight for the first time in 2018. 

The M-Braves were playing their second consecutive weekday day game on Thursday, but in a new city, with the first of five against the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate. 
Mississippi started the scoring in the top of the first inning after back-to-back singles from Luis Valenzuela  and Alay Lago , then back-to-back wild pitches from Smokies (20-20) starter Trevor Clifton allowed Valenzuela to score. The single by Valenzuela upped his hitting streak to nine games. 
Michael Reed  pushed the M-Braves lead to 3-0 in the second inning with a two-out, two-run double down the left field line allowing Alex Jackson  and Daniel Lockhart  to score. 
The Smokies picked up two runs against Mississippi starter Kyle Wright  in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI double from Ian Rice and two-out RBI single by Jesse Hodges. Tennessee tied the game at 3-3 on a run-scoring single from Yasiel Balaguert. 
The Braves went back ahead in the fifth inning. Valenzuela and Lago singled to start the inning, and with two outs, Alex Jackson reached on a fielding error to score Valenzuela to make it 4-3. It was 5-3 in the sixth inning when Connor Lien  raced home on a sacrifice fly to center from Reed. 
The Smokies once again came from behind to tie the game as they pushed Wright from the game after a two-run home run from Ian Rice in the bottom of the sixth. 
Wright tossed 5.2 innings in his ninth start of the season and gave up five runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts. 
Mississippi took control of the game in the late innings. Four hits produced two more runs in the seventh inning to go up 7-5, and Travis Demeritte's  third hit of the game was a towering two-run home run in the eighth to push the lead up to 9-5. 
Valenzuela, Lien, and Demeritte recorded three hits each while Lago, and Lockhart had two hits apiece. The offense has produced 26 runs over the last three games during the winning streak. The 16 hits on Thursday matched a season high. 
M-Braves reliever Elian Leyva  (W, 2-0) got the final out of the sixth inning and earned his second win in just 1/3 of an inning. Chad Sobotka  tossed two scoreless innings of relief, and Josh Graham  pitched a clean ninth. 
The M-Braves will continue their five-game series in East Tennessee with a 6:00 pm (CT) first pitch against the Tennessee Smokies at Smokies Stadium on Friday. RHP Bryse Wilson  (1-0, 4.50) will start for the Braves against RHP Duncan Robinson (1-1, 4.17) for the Smokies. Fans can listen to all M-Braves games for free on 103.9 WYAB or the free TuneIn Radio App. 
The M-Braves will return home to Trustmark Park on Wednesday, May 23 for a five-game series against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. The game will feature two promotions in AMR First Responders Wednesday presented by AMR (All First Responders/Emergency Response personnel, including law enforcement and firefighters, may purchase a $7 ticket in all seating areas, excluding Suite Level, when presenting ID. Excluding July 4) and Strike Out Hunger presented by the Mississippi Food Network (Fans who bring a canned food item to the Trustmark Park Box Office will receive a voucher for one $3 Field Level ticket).