MLB pitcher Floyd to start for M-Braves

Published 11:30 am Thursday, April 17, 2014

Trustmark Park will once again have a big-league feel Friday night.

For the second time this season a member of the Atlanta Braves’ pitching staff will play for the team’s Double-A club in Pearl when Gavin Floyd takes the mound for the finale of a five-game series with Huntsville.

Atlanta pitcher Mike Minor started the season opener for the Mississippi Braves.

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Floyd, a 31-year-old right-hander, was signed by Atlanta as a free agent in the offseason. He made five starts for the Chicago White Sox in 2013 before undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery in May.

In addition to Floyd, Atlanta Braves icon Dale Murphy will make an appearance Friday at Trustmark. He’ll throw out the first pitch and be available to sign autographs for fans during the game.

The gates to Trustmark Park will open at 6 p.m., and the game with Huntsville starts at 7.

On Wednesday, the M-Braves beat Huntsville 3-0. Williams Perez allowed two hits and two walks, and struck out five in 5 2/3 innings to get the win. Shae Simmons pitched the ninth inning for his fourth save of the season.

The M-Braves scored twice in the second inning, on a double by Robby Hefflinger and an RBI ground out by Braeden Schlehuber, then tacked on an insurance run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly by Cedric Hunter.