the bottom line

“Finding a way to win” is a somewhat hackneyed explanation for a team’s success. But how else to describe what the Mississippi Braves have been doing of late. The M-Braves won their sixth straight Sunday, beating Mobile 3-1 on the road, and climbed over .500 at 9-8. J.R. Graham, the highly touted right-hander, went seven innings for the W — the first win for an M-Braves starter this season. Even with early season pitch counts, that’s crazy. Overall, the pitching has been good but not great. The staff ERA of 3.60 ranks in the lower half of the Southern League, though that has kept them in most games while the bats have sputtered. The .231 average is near the league bottom and the team is last in home runs (with four). But they’ve shown a remarkable knack for late-inning magic. The only .300 hitter at the moment is Christian Bethancourt, the prized catching prospect who is batting .341. Minor league vets Jose Martinez (.296) and Kyle Russell (.292, a homer, seven RBIs) have been solid. Third base prospect Edward Salcedo (.255, one homer) hasn’t really gotten it going, nor have several others. Still, the M-Braves have found a way to put together this six-game winning streak, the team’s longest since July 2010. Perhaps they can ride that wave a little longer over the rest of the 10-game road trip. The next game at Trustmark Park is May 1. P.S. Add Brett Oberholtzer to the list of M-Braves who’ve risen to the big leagues. The left-hander, a 9-game winner for M-Braves in 2011, made his first appearance for Houston on Sunday. He joins Evan Gattis and Paul Clemens as ex-M-Braves to make MLB debuts this season.