M-Braves smash Lookouts in series opener on Monday

CHATTANOOGA, TN - Luis Valenzuela  hit two home runs in 114 games last season, but the Mississippi Braves infielder blasted two on Monday night, including his first career grand slam as the Braves smashed the Chattanooga Lookouts 13-4 in the series opener. 

The offensive outburst occurred after both teams were held without a hit through the first three innings. Mississippi (4-5) began a string of scoring in five consecutive innings in the fourth by sending nine batters to the plate. Drew Waters started the rally by dropping in a single to left and advanced to second on a fielding error by Taylor Trammell. Cristian Pache  singled placing runners at the corners and Alejandro Salazar  brought home Waters with another single. Chattanooga starter Jordan Johnson (L, 0-1) recorded the first two outs but walked Jonathan Morales  to load the bases. Valenzuela drilled a 2-2 pitch over the wall in right field pushing the lead to 5-0. The grand slam was only the third hit by an M-Braves player since 2014 and first since Carlos Martínez' grand slam on June 12, 2018. 

Up 5-1 after four innings, the M-Braves plated two more runs in the fifth inning with two outs. Morales singled home C.J. Alexander and Salazar to make it 7-1. 

Valenzuela hit his second home run in consecutive at-bats, blasting a solo shot to right-center in the sixth inning. The multi-homer game was the first in Valenzuela's career. Connor Lien followed with a triple and scored a wild pitch to up the lead to 9-1. 

The scoring frenzy continued in the seventh when Pache and Alexander drew bases-loaded walks to run the deficit to ten at 11-1. 

M-Braves starter Joey Wentz  came one out shy from being eligible for a victory on Monday, tossing 4.2 innings on 82 pitches. The 21-year-old walked just one and struck out seven, yielding just one earned run. No Braves starter has made it through 5.0 innings this season but have combined for a 1.22 ERA. Mike Mader (W, 1-2) relieved Wentz and retired the first four batters he faced, before running into trouble in the seventh. The lefty walked three and hit a batter, giving up three runs and seeing Chattanooga (4-5) trim the lead to 11-4.

With a runner on and two outs in the eighth, Lien hit his first home run of 2019 into the seats in right-field extending Mississippi's edge to nine runs at 13-4. 

That was plenty of cushion for Jason Hursh , who pitched the final 2.0 innings, tying Mark Lamm , for the all-time appearance record in club history at 114. Hursh struck out two. 

Waters led the 13-hit outburst with three hits, while Pache, Salazar, Morales, Valenzuela, and Lien added two hits each. Pache pushed his hitting streak to six games and Waters upped his on-base streak to seven games. The 3 hour, 24-minute contest saw a combined nine pitchers used, 14 walks, 20 strikeouts and 16 runners left on base. 

The M-Braves excelled with runners in scoring position by going 6-for-14 on Monday night. 

The M-Braves will once again look to win a second-straight game this season on Tuesday night at AT&T Field. LHP Tucker Davidson  will make his second M-Braves start against Chattanooga veteran RHP Rob Wooten. First pitch is set for 6:15 pm CT with coverage beginning at 6:00 pm on 103.9 FM and the TuneIn Radio app. 

The M-Braves will return to Trustmark Park for a five-game homestand, April 20-24 against the Montgomery Biscuits. For tickets visit mississippibraves.com/tickets or call 888-BRAVES4!