Jacksonville blanks Mississippi Braves

Published 11:39 am Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The Suns finally found the bats at Trustmark Park on Monday and in a big way.

Luke Montz went 3-for-4 while driving in five runs to lead the Jacksonville Suns to an 8-0 victory over the Mississippi Braves after the M-Braves held the Suns scoreless in the first two games of the series.

Jacksonville starter Brad Hand (4-1) held the Braves hitless through five innings.

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Antoan Richardson led off the sixth with a single to deep short for the first of two Mississippi hits in the game.

The only time Mississippi moved a runner into scoring position was in the bottom of the seventh, when Ernesto Mejia walked and moved to second on a base hit by Cory Harrilchak.

Hand pitched a two-hit gem, walking four and striking out three in 61⁄3 innings of work. Montz led off the top of the second with a solo homer to left field, plating the first run of the series for Jacksonville. Alex Romero followed with a single and moved over on a ground out before scoring on Chris Gutierrez’s single to right field.

M-Braves starting pitcher Paul Clemens (3-1) took the loss. He was charged with two runs.