The Mississippi Braves pitching staff dominated from start to finish, holding the Rocket City Trash Pandas to three hits in an 8-0 victory Friday evening at Toyota Field.
The Braves struck first as outfielder Cade Bunnell scored on a wild pitch from Trash Pandas starting pitcher Chase Chaney (L, 2-2) in the second inning. Catcher Drake Baldwin followed with a two-run single later in the inning to make it 3-0 Mississippi.
Braves outfielder Justin Dean singled in a run in the fourth, extending the Mississippi lead to four. Infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr. drove in another two runs with a two-out single in the sixth which proved to be the final blow against Chaney.
Mississippi got a strong outing from reigning Southern League Pitcher of the Week Ian Mejia (W, 3-0) who threw 5.2 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.
The Braves added on in the ninth as a triple from Keshawn Ogans and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Geraldo Quintero gave Mississippi the final tally.
The Trash Pandas and Braves will meet again on Saturday. First pitch against the Braves is slated for 6:35 p.m. for Armed Forces Night sponsored by SAIC. Josh Caray will have the call on WZZN 97.7-HD2.
