Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: a Pearl Amidst a Robbery
Ellis, M-Braves flirt with no-hitter in 5-1 victory – Tennessee hitless until the ninth inning
MIRANDA BLACK / MISSISSIPPI BRAVES
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PEARL, MS — Chris Ellis no-hit the Tennessee Smokies through six and two-thirds before exiting the game and giving way to Steve Kent who took the no-hitter into the ninth. Victor Caratini led off the final frame with a base hit to left field, breaking up the bid, but the Braves closed out the game to pick up a 5-1 victory Tuesday night at Trustmark Park.
Ellis (7-2) gave up one unearned run in the first and walked five batters. He struck out four but did not allow a hit as he picked up the win. Kent worked 1.2 innings, surrendered two hits to start the Smokies’ ninth. Madison Younginer (S, 3) then came on to record the last two outs.
Mississippi (27-30) scored five runs on 12 hits. Tennessee (25-33) plated one run on two hits. Both teams committed one error. Dustin Peterson led the Braves at the plate with a 3-for-4 night. Jacob Schrader and Johan Camargo each added a couple of hits.
The Smokies took a 1-0 lead in the first. Mark Zagunis reached on an error by the shortstop and Victor Caratini walked to start the inning. Billy McKinney drew a two-out walk to load the bases before Cael Brockmeyer drew a walk to bring home the game’s first run.
ED. UPDATE: there’s been another robbery…
They changed the Camargo E6 in the 1st to a single for Mark Zagunis. So, @MBraves no-hit bid actually ended on 2nd batter of game. #Braves
— Kyle Tait (@TaitVoice) June 8, 2016
[ Ed. note: things got a bit dicey in the 9th, as those 2 hits for the Smokies helped to load the bases, which brought the tying run to the plate. Fortunately, a strikeout ended it to preserve the W for Ellis.
Ellis has been the best starter for Mississippi – on a staff that includes Sean Newcomb – with 12 starters and a 2.85 ERA in almost 73 innings. His walks are a little high, but that seems to come from getting ‘out of sync’ for an inning at a time.
Next: Let's try something else
Otherwise, Ellis has been nigh unhittable: just 49 hits allowed in those 72.2 innings, which is remarkable. Good to see him thriving like this. ]