M-Braves head home after splitting Thursday's doubleheader in Mobile

MOBILE, AL -- The Mississippi Braves (60-67, 31-26) and Mobile BayBears (63-63, 25-31) concluded their abbreviated four-game series on Thursday with a doubleheader split at Hank Aaron Stadium. Mobile took game one, 3-2 and Mississippi won the second contest, 7-4. The M-Braves head home for a five-game homestand against first-place Biloxi, trailing the Shuckers by 2.5 games with 11 games remaining in the regular season. Mississippi trails second-place Pensacola by one game. 

The BayBears and Braves split the four games with Mobile securing the season-series, 11-8. Luis Valenzuela  finished the four-game set 7-for-13 with two doubles, two RBI and four runs scored. 

Enderson Franco  (L, 5-9) made his 18th start in game one and retired the first eight Mobile batters. The Braves handed Franco a 2-0 lead by tallying a pair of runs in the top of the third inning. BayBears' starter Patrick Sandoval (W, 1-0) sat down the first seven straight Braves before walking Daniel Lockhart . The lefty walked Didder to place two on base. Cristian Pache  and Connor Lien smacked back-to-back RBI singles to put Mississippi on top 2-0. The runs scored in the third inning ended a 21.2 innings scoreless streak for Sandoval. He hadn't allowed a run since being traded from the Astros to the Angels. 

Franco pitched around trouble in the third inning and then allowed three runs to come across in the fourth. Riley Unroe, Brandon Sandoval, and Mitch Ghelfi notched three straight run-scoring singles handing the BayBears a 3-2 edge. Franco turned in his fifth quality start of the year and surrendered just three runs on five hits over 6.0 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. Franco was credited with the first complete game of the season. 

Sandoval and reliever Ryan Clark (S, 4) sat down the final 11 M-Braves hitters in the quick 1 hour, 45-minute opener. 

Six M-Braves relievers covered game two and the M-Braves took advantage of four Mobile errors in the 7-4 victory. 

Tyler Marlette  opened the second inning with a single and moved up to second base on a one-out walk issued to Carlos Martinez. Lockhart corked a line drive single to left that slid past left fielder Brandon Sandoval permitting Marlette and Martinez to score. Lockhart sprinted home on a wild pitch from Jose Rodriguez (L, 7-10) and it was 3-0 Mississippi. 

Daniel Lietz made his 21st career start and first since Aug. 30, 2015, and gave up just one run over the first 3.0 innings. The lone run came across in the second inning. 

Marlette, Luis Valenzuela, and Martinez opened the fourth inning with singles and the latter scored two runs extending the lead to 5-1. Marlette recorded an RBI groundout and Valenzuela an RBI single in the fifth inning to stretch the advantage to 7-1. The 24-year-old Valenzuela has registered multi-hit games in five of his last six outings. 

Rex Brothers  (W, 3-0) pitched a scoreless fourth inning and Tyler Pike  took over in the fifth. Brandon Sandoval led off the inning with a homer and Pike let the next three reach to load the bases. Justin Kelly  took the ball from manager Chris Maloney and immediately struck out Zach Houchins for the first out. Brendon Sanger followed with a two-run single and it was 7-3. Joe Hudson reached on an error, letting another run and the lead was down to three and 7-4. 

Jason Hursh  (S, 5) slammed the door on the nightcap with a scoreless sixth and seventh inning behind Kelly, yielding just one hit for his fifth save. 

Mississippi heads home to open a pivotal five-game homestand against the Biloxi Shuckers at Trustmark Park. Game one is on Friday night at 7:00 pm. LHP Michael Mader will start for the M-Braves against RHP Thomas Jankins for Biloxi. Fireworks will light up the sky above Trustmark Park after Friday's game presented by WLBT 3 On Your Side. Coverage will begin on 103.0 WYAB, TuneIn Radio at MiLB.TV at 6:50 pm. 

Only five home games remain in the 2018 regular season! Enjoy back-to-back Post-Game Fireworks shows to start the homestand as well as the first 1,500 fans will receive a Ronald Acuña Jr. bobblehead on Saturday, August 25. For more information, call the M-Braves Front Office at 601.932.8788 or 888-BRAVES4, or visit www.mississippibraves.com. Individual tickets start at just $6!