PEARL, MS - The Mississippi Braves (27-33, 60-69) closed out the 11-game homestand in ten days on Thursday night with a 3-1 victory over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (33-26, 71-58) at Trustmark Park.
PEARL, MS - The Mississippi Braves (27-33, 60-69) closed out the 11-game homestand in ten days on Thursday night with a 3-1 victory over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (33-26, 71-58) at Trustmark Park.
Claudio Custodio (W, 5-4) had a career night on the mound for the M-Braves, tossing 7.0 shutout innings on two hits with two walks and five strikeouts. The 7.0 innings on Thursday crushed his previous career-high of 4.1 innings which he had done twice previously this season. Custodio needed just 77 pitches over the outing to earn his first win as a starting pitcher, in his fourth start.
The M-Braves broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth inning. Atlanta Braves 2019 first-round pick Braden Shewmake led off the inning with a single against Pensacola reliever Jovani Moran (L, 2-2). Moran walked William Contreras with one out and then gave up a two-out RBI single to Greyson Jenista. Connor Lien followed with a triple down the right-field line scoring Contreras and Jenista to up the lead to 3-0.
Kurt Hoekstra (H, 5) took over for Custodio in the eighth inning and surrendered a solo home run to Jimmy Kerrigan, trimming the advantage to 3-1. Pensacola hit five home runs over the six-game series, matching Montgomery's five back in April for the most in a single set against the M-Braves at Trustmark Park. Hoekstra finished the frame with Mississippi leading 3-1.
Jason Creasy (S, 7) was tasked with finishing off the victory, and the North Carolina native struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn the save.
Ray-Patrick Didder paced the seven-hit M-Braves attack with a 2-for-3 night at the plate, reaching base safely three times. Didder also swiped his 25th base of the season in the fifth inning, marking his fourth-straight season with 25 stolen bases or more. The Aruba native is 18-for-19 in save opportunities in the second half.
The M-Braves finished the homestand 4-7 by going 2-3 against the Barons and 2-4 against the Blue Wahoos. Mississippi has been eliminated from wild-card contention and now has an elimination number of one in the division race with ten games to play.
The M-Braves head out for their final road trip of the season on Friday beginning a five-game series at Biloxi. RHP Connor Johnstone (5-4, 4.46) starts for the M-Braves against Biloxi RHP Bowden Francis (6-8, 3.86) First pitch is set for 6:35 pm with coverage beginning at 6:20 pm on 103.9 WYAB, TuneIn Radio, First Pitch App. and MiLB.tv (subscription required).
