JACKSONVILLE, FL - Drew Waters had three more hits on Saturday, but the Mississippi Braves (9-13, 42-49) fell to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (11-10, 40-51), 7-2, at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The win evens the six-game series at 1-1 with a doubleheader coming up on Sunday.
JACKSONVILLE, FL - Drew Waters had three more hits on Saturday, but the Mississippi Braves (9-13, 42-49) fell to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (11-10, 40-51), 7-2, at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The win evens the six-game series at 1-1 with a doubleheader coming up on Sunday.
No one in Major League or Minor League Baseball has more hits than Drew Waters . The 20-year-old went 3-for-4 with a double, run and RBI on Saturday to up his season hit total to 121. He leads the league with a .343 batting average, 44 extra-base hits and 35 multi-hit games through 89 games this season. The No. 4 overall prospect for the Braves recorded six-straight hits from Thursday into Saturday's three-hit performance.
The Braves wasted no time getting to Marlins top prospect Sixto Sanchez in the first inning. The right-hander walked Cristian Pache to start the game and then gave up the 30th double of the season to Waters, placing Mississippi on top, 1-0. Ryan Casteel came up with one out and brought in Waters with a triple down the left-field line to make it 2-0.
The lead for the M-Braves didn't last long. Jacksonville sent eight batters to the plate and forced starter Tucker Davidson to throw 40 pitches in a two-run inning. Davidson struck out one and walked three, giving up an RBI double to J.C. Millan and sacrifice fly to Riley Mahan.
Sanchez settled down after the two-run first and ended up retiring 13 of the final 15 batters he faced and ended up with 7.0 innings of two-run baseball, on just five hits.
Davidson was relieved by Connor Johnstone (L, 3-1) in the second inning after the 40 pitch first frame. Johnstone dealt a 12 pitch, 1-2-3 second inning and worked around a pair of hits in the third inning to keep the game tied. In the fourth, Santiago Chávez led off with a single and moved to third base on a one-out single from Brian Miller. Chavez scored on an errant pickoff throw to give the Jumbo Shrimp their first lead at 3-2. Joe Dunand made it 4-2 with a single to score Miller.
Andres Santiago took over on the mound for the Braves in the fifth inning. After tossing a pair of scoreless frames, Jacksonville pushed their lead to five with a three-run inning. The big hit was a pinch-hit two-run double from former Atlanta Braves farmhand, Anfernee Seymour that made it 7-2. Bradley Roney pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
In all, Jacksonville pounded out 15 hits and left 13 runners on base in game two of the series.
The M-Braves and Jumbo Shrimp will play game three and four of the six-game series in a doubleheader on Sunday in Jacksonville. LHP Joey Wentz (4-7, 4.52) will start game one and RHP Ian Anderson (6-5, 2.91) goes in game two for the M-Braves. Jacksonville will start RHP Edward Cabrera (2-0, 2.25) in game one and RHP Kolton Mahoney (2-0,3.15) in game two. First pitch of game one begins at 1:05 pm CT with coverage beginning at 12:50 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.
