M-Braves Take Two, Wahoos Drop Third Straight

July 9, 2021

The Mississippi Braves (35-22) used two separate penultimate-inning rallies to win both games against Pensacola (33-24) on Thursday at Trustmark Park.

The first game was the resumption of Wednesday’s suspended game, that began 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning. There was no offense until the bottom of the eighth inning when the M-Braves cashed in on a pair of leadoff walks. After a sac bunt from Wendell Rijo, Braden Shewmake lined a base hit into center off Dylan Bice (L, 1-3) to put the M-Braves up 3-2.

Will Latcham (W, 2-1)—who pitched in the eighth—worked a scoreless ninth inning to give the M-Braves an early win to start the evening. Even though eight of Pensacola’s nine starters had a base hit, the Wahoos ultimately left nine men on base in the one-run loss. Pensacola is now 15-8 in one-run games this season.

In the second game of the night, Jeff Lindgren (L, 2-5) took the mound for the Wahoos and pitched well through the first five innings of the game. It was a back-and-forth affair between the two sides as the Wahoos led for most of the night. Riley Mahan laced a two-out, two-run double in the top of the first inning to put Pensacola ahead 2-0.

The seesaw battle soon continued. Mississippi scored once in the second to cut Pensacola’s lead down to 2-1. Both teams scored once in the third and the Wahoos tacked on another run in the top of the fourth to make it 4-2.

Things began to unravel in the fifth. With Lindgren still on the mound, Shea Langeliers hit a home run that initially looked just foul, despite being ruled a homer by the third base umpire. The manager of the Wahoos, Kevin Randel, and several of the players questioned the umpire and despite a umpire’s conference between all three officials, the call stood. One pitch later, pitching coach Tim Norton was ejected, clearly still baffled by the ruling of a fair ball.

After the ejection, Lindgren elevated his game, striking out the next two batters and taking the Wahoos to the top of sixth with a 4-3 lead.

However, in the bottom of the sixth, the M-Braves scored six times to stun the Wahoos and ultimately put the game out of reach. After a soft come-backer for the first out, the next six M-Braves all reached base safely. Lindgren allowed a walk and single before a wild pitch set up the M-Braves with two runners in scoring position. Lindgren then allowed a two-run base hit to Justin Dean to put Mississippi up 5-4.

Jose Mesa Jr replaced Lindgren and allowed back-to-back walked before striking out Wendell Rijo (who had homered earlier in the game against Lindgren). With two outs, Jefrey Ramos tripled to bring home two more and put the M-Braves up 9-4. Pensacola scored once in the top of the seventh but ultimately fell 9-5.

The Wahoos now sit two games out of first place and are in jeopardy of losing their third series of the year. LHP Will Stewart (3-4, 4.53) will take the mound for the Blue Wahoos and he will be opposed by RHP AJ Puckett (1-4, 3.15).

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports