Kodak, TN – Jake Brigham allowed just two earned runs over seven innings against his former team, but the Tennessee Smokies took advantage of four Mississippi Braves errors to pull away to an 8-0 win Wednesday night at Smokies Stadium.

Brigham (6-3) was perfect through four innings for the Braves (32-32), retiring the first 12 batters he faced, but the fifth inning started with a Rio Ruiz error to allow Taylor Davis to reach. Bijan Rademacher grounded into a force at second, and Stephen Bruno singled to put men on the corners.

Wes Darvill grounded a ball to first and Kevin Ahrens tried for a force but threw wildly to second, allowing Rademacher to score. Bryant Flete executed a safety squeeze for a 2-0 Smokies (36-29) lead, with both runs unearned.

That’s all the Smokies needed, as Pierce Johnson (1-0) hurled five shutout innings on three hits to pick up the win in his second start of the year.

Tennessee pulled away with two more in the seventh against Brigham. Rademacher and Stephen Bruno singled to put men at first and second, and Flete hit a double to right-center for two RBI and a 4-0 lead. Flete was thrown out going back to second after a big turn for a triple.

Brigham finished with four runs allowed, two earned, on four this over seven innings. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter, picking up his fourth straight quality start. The loss snapped a five-game win streak for Brigham.

In the eighth, Francisco Rondon came on in relief, allowing four runs, two earned, on three hits. Anthony Giansanti reached on an error at short by Emerson Landoni. With one out, Rondon hit Albert Almora and allowed a single to Dan Vogelbach.

Davis hit a two-run double for a 6-0 lead, and Rademacher singled to bring home Vogelbach for a 7-0 lead. Bruno hit a sacrifice fly for another run to close out the scoring at 8-0.

Neil Ramirez and Gerardo Concepcion pitched scoreless relief innings-Ramirez on a major league rehab–and Corey Black closed it out with two innings of one-hit shutout baseball.

For the fourth straight game, the Braves were held to four hits or fewer, and it was the third time in four games they were shutout. The Braves have managed just one run in their last 39 innings. The four errors were a season-high, falling one shy of the franchise record of five, last done July 19, 2013 at Jackson.

It was the fifth straight loss for the M-Braves, and their ninth in the last 11.

The Braves and Smokies will play the second of five games on Thursday night at Smokies Stadium, with first pitch slated for 6:05 PM CT. Right-hander Greg Ross (2-6, 5.86) will toe the rubber against right-hander Felix Pena (5-2, 3.32) for the Smokies.

By M-Braves Media Relations