M-Braves beat Rockies
Published 9:35 am Friday, July 22, 2016
Kodak, Tenn. — The Mississippi Braves came from behind with a four-run seventh inning on Thursday night to take down the Tennessee Smokies 5-3 at Smokies Stadium.
Trailing 3-1 entering the seventh, Stephen Gaylor walked, and Connor Lien and Dansby Swanson added singles to load the bases. Dustin Peterson came through with a game-tying two-run double, extending his team RBI lead to 64.
Two batters later, Levi Hyams came off the bench and ripped a pinch-hit two-run single to center to give the Braves (15-12; 49-47) the lead for good, 5-3.
The comeback came after Tennessee (11-15; 39-57) scored twice in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie. David Freitas knocked the go-ahead RBI double off starter Jed Bradley, and Ben Carhart added a double of his own to make it 3-1.
Bradley took a no-decision, allowing three runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings, setting the table for Akeel Morris (3-0) to pick up the win in relief. Morris faced just one batter, striking out Trey Martin to end the tie-breaking sixth.
David Berg (1-3) blew his second save and took the loss, allowing all four runs in the seventh on four hits over 2/3rds of an inning. Starter Jen-Ho Tseng took a no-decision, allowing an unearned run on six hits over six innings, striking out two and walking two.
Madison Younginer (S, 12) came on and stranded a runner at second to get the save with a scoreless ninth. He combined with Morris and Peterson for 3 1/3 innings of shutout relief work.
The Braves and Smokies swapped runs in the second inning on sacrifice flies. Joey Meneses started the top of the second with a double, and Camargo drove him home from third with a sacrifice fly to right to give the Braves an early 1-0 lead. Tennessee tied it with a Carhart sac fly to right, plating Freitas to start a long-standing tie.
The Braves and Smokies continue the series with the third of five games on Friday night at Smokies Stadium, with Mississippi sending left-hander Manny Banuelos (0-0, 6.23) to the hill against right-hander Michael Wagner (0-0, 2.25).