Huntsville holds off M-Braves

Published 11:38 am Monday, May 2, 2011

The Mississippi Braves’ bid for their first true winning streak of the season came up about 180 feet short.

Erik Komatsu’s two-run triple keyed a three-run rally in the seventh inning, and the Huntsville Stars went on to beat the M-Braves 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.

The M-Braves (8-16) were bidding for their third straight victory, which would have been a season-best, but left the tying run at second base in the bottom of the ninth inning. They also have not won a series yet this season, but can still clinch this one by winning the finale tonight at 7:05 at Trustmark Park.

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On Tuesday night, the M-Braves open a five-game series on the road against Chattanooga. They return to Trustmark Park next Monday to start a 10-game homestand against Jackson and Jacksonville.

Marcus Lemon and Tyler Pastornicky had two hits apiece for the M-Braves, and J.J. Hoover (0-2) allowed only four hits and two walks in six innings.

Hoover took the loss, though, after giving up three runs — all unearned — in the sixth inning. Brandon Jones doubled with two outs, Steffan Wilson reached on an error to keep the rally going, and Komatsu tripled to right to give Huntsville a 2-1 lead. Komatsu them scored on a single by Martin Maldonado.

Mississippi got a run back in the bottom of the seventh on a pinch-hit, RBI single by Donell Linares, but left the bases loaded. Another runner was stranded at second base in the eighth inning, as was Geraldo Rodriguez in the ninth.

Jesus Sanchez (2-2) gave up one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings to get the win for Huntsville (15-8).

Michael Fiers pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fourth save of the season

Lee Haydel had two hits for Huntsville, and Komatsu finished 2-for-4 with the triple, two RBIs and two runs scored. He also stole a base.