PEARL — The Braves defeated the Montgomery Biscuits, 3-2, infront of 3,442 fans at Trustmark Park. 

The Biscuits took the early lead in the third when Luis Mateoled off with a double. He then moved to third on a wild pitch andscored on a single by Johnny Raburn, giving Montgomery a 1-0lead. 

Mississippi tied the score in the bottom of the third whenMartin Prado belted his first AA homerun, a solo shot, over theleft field wall to knot the score at one. 

The Braves took the lead, 2-1, in the fifth when Carlos Duranled off with a single and scored two batters later on a JoshArteaga double down the left field line. Mississippi missed out ona second run in the inning when Wes Timmons singled up the middleand Arteaga was thrown out at home by center fielder ElijahDukes. 

The Biscuits tied the score in the seventh when Rico Washingtonled off with a double and moved to third on a deep fly ball by WesBankston. Washington the came home with the tying run on a singleby Shawn Riggans. 

The score remained tied until the bottom of the ninth whenGregor Blanco reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, andmoved to third on a balk by pitcher Josh Parker. After Carlos Duranwas intentionally walked, Luis Hernandez made the Biscuits pay bychopping a single down the third base line to bring Blanco to theplate with the winning run. 

Braves’ starter Chuck James (7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K,1 WP) continued his excellent pitching, but did not factor into thedecision in tonight’s game. Steve Kent (1.0 IP, 2 H) allowed twohits but induced an inning-ending double play to end the Biscuitsrally and keep the score tied at two. Joey Devine (1.0 IP, 1 K, 1HB) came in and closed the door in the ninth to keep the game tied,and subsequently recorded his first career win. 

For Montgomery, Jamie Shields (7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4K, 1 HR) pitched well also, but just as James didn’t factor in thedecision for Mississippi, Shields did not factor into the decisionfor Montgomery. Josh Parker (1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 IBB, 1 K, 1BK) allowed the walk-off single by Luis Hernandez to fall to 2-5 onthe year. 

The Braves and the Biscuits will play game three of thisfour-game series tomorrow night at 7:05 at Trustmark Park. TheBraves will send LHP Matt Coenen (3-7, 4.92) to the hill in searchof his fourth win of the year. Montgomery will counter with RHPChris Flinn (2-3, 3.86) who is in search of his third win of2005.