summit meeting
Even though there are 50 games left in the Southern League season, the next five may be bigger than most for the Mississippi Braves. The M-Braves, 12-8 and running second in the SL South, play host to first-place Mobile (13-7) in a five-game series at Trustmark Park that begins tonight. Mobile, an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate, won the first half in the division. The BayBears lead the league in ERA (3.13) and runs (433), a pretty good combination. The M-Braves, however, are right on their heels. They actually have a better team batting average (a league-best .269) to go with a 3.59 ERA (third) and 397 runs (fourth). Bottom line: This ought to be a whale of a series. Even with the recent loss to injury of slugger Seth Loman (11 homers, 53 RBIs), the M-Braves can trot out a pretty impressive lineup; they’ve got nine players batting .271 or better. Recent newcomers Kyle Wren (.368) and Daniel Castro (.355) have adjusted quite well to Double-A pitching. Jose Peraza is clipping along with a .342 average, and Cedric Hunter is at .319 with nine homers and 47 RBIs. Jake Lamb, a prospect at third base, leads Mobile with a .314 average, 13 bombs and 68 RBIs. Jason Hursh (6-6, 4.08) takes the bump for Mississippi in the opener (7 p.m.), facing A.J. Schugel (4-1, 3.81).