Baldwin and Stephens Hit Homers to Power M-Braves Past Blue Wahoos

PENSACOLA, FL – Drake Baldwin hit his first Double-A homer, Landon Stephens smashed a grand slam and the Mississippi Braves (61-73, 28-38) topped the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (77-56, 36-29) 8-2 on Thursday night at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

The M-Braves scored eight runs on nine hits, hitting two critical home runs in the second inning. The M-Braves took a two-games-to-one series lead in their final series of the season.

Baldwin rocketed a ball over the batter’s eye for a solo home run to start the second inning. Baldwin picked up the first home run of his Double-A career and has hit in nine of his first 11 Double-A games.

Stephens blasted a grand slam to left field in the same inning to put the M-Braves up 5-0. Stephens hit his 21st homer of the season and the M-Braves seventh grand slam, adding to a club record.

In the third, Hendrik Clementina lined an RBI single to center to make it 6-0.

Domingo Robles earned the win with 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball. He gave up both runs in the sixth inning before exiting the game. Robles moved to a 3.39 ERA, top five in the Southern League.

Patrick Halligan had a scoreless inning of relief to lower his ERA to 1.13 in eight innings over six relief appearances since being promoted from High-A Rome.

In the ninth, the M-Braves added two more runs. Jesse Franklin V scored on an error, and Clementina knocked in another run on a double to extend the lead back to six runs. Clementina went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two RBI. Javier Valdes reached base four times, going 2-for-3 with two walks.

The fourth game of the series is on Friday night at Blue Wahoos Stadium. RHP Daniel Martinez (0-2, 5.56) will make the start Mississippi while RHP Evan Fitterer (7-6, 4.40) will start for Pensacola. The first pitch is at 6:35 pm CT, with coverage starting 15 minutes before on 102.1 The Box, MiLB First Pitch App, and Bally Live.