M-Braves lose another one-run contest to Suns

Published 12:00 am Friday, June 17, 2011

A wild pitch by Benino Pruneda allowed Alex Romero to score the decisive go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth as the Suns defeated the Mississippi Braves 4-3 at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, Fla. Mississippi fell to 6-20 in one-run games.

For the M-Braves (25-44), Donell Linares and Ernesto Mejia combined for five hits and three RBIs. Matt Kennelly also added a couple hits in the contest.

Mississippi outhit the Suns (36-33) 11-8, but left 11 runners on base vs. six for Jacksonville.

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J.J. Hoover limited the Suns to just one earned run on four hits, a home run, and two walks while fanning eight But he did not factor in the decision.

Jose Rosario (1-0) came on to work the eighth, picking up his first win of the season while Sandy Rosario worked the final frame to notch his Southern League-leading 17th save of the season.

Pruneda (1-3) took the loss, giving up three earned runs on four hits in 11⁄3.

Luke Montz launched his 15th home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the second and give the Suns an early 1-0 advantage.

Mycal Jones then led off the top of the third with a double and scored on a Linares single to tie the game at 1-1.

The M-Braves took a 3-1 lead in the fifth on a two-run home run by Mejia. The homer was Mejia’s second in as many nights and his third of the series at Jacksonville.

Kyle Skipworth and Ben Lasater got things started for the Suns in the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles. Chris Gutierrez grounded into a force out, cutting down Skipworth at third. A wild pitch then moved Lasater and Gutierrez up a bag. A Tim Torres pinch hit RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Kevin Mattison brought both runs in to tie the game at 3-3.