going south

There is no white flag flying over Trustmark Park today, but the Mississippi Braves certainly don’t appear to have much fight left in them. They dropped their third straight game to Mobile on Thursday night, ensuring that the BayBears will win what had begun as a crucial five-game series for the M-Braves. The M-Braves entered the series at 15-15, 7 games back of the first-place BayBears. They’re now 15-18 and 10 games out. Poor pitching and shoddy defense cost the M-Braves in a 14-6 loss in the series opener. In Game 2, they wasted a strong pitching performance by Paul Clemens and lost 2-1 when Mobile got the clutch hits in the ninth inning. On Thursday, they squandered a lead in the seventh inning and fell 5-3. The M-Braves have lost eight in a row to Mobile overall and are 5-17 against the BayBears this season. What’s worse, they play Mobile seven more times. The M-Braves have some talent, but the sum of the parts is not adding up to a championship in 2011. What’s Lynchburg got?
P.S. Wise career choice by Desmond Jennings. The Itawamba Community College product, once a budding football star bound for Alabama, has been given his first real chance to play in the big leagues and is showing out for Tampa Bay. He hit his first career homer on Thursday and is batting .500 with seven RBIs and four steals since arriving from Triple-A on Saturday. At 6 feet 2, 200 pounds, Jennings has the power/speed package that could make him a true star in what some considered his second-best sport. … Ole Miss alumnus Matt Tolbert was recalled by Minnesota on Thursday and responded with two hits. … Nettleton’s Bill Hall has been designated for assignment by San Francisco, a likely precursor to his being released for the second time this season. Sadly, he may be done at 31.