Saturday's Minor League Report

RICHMOND After losing their home opener 5-2 Friday afternoon,the Richmond Braves continue their weekend series against the Louisville Bats with a 4:00 contest.

Daniel Curtis will be on the mound for Richmond against Louisville's Jeriome Robertson.

The young position players continue to do well for Richmond early in this season. Tony Pena extended his hitting streak to eight games Friday with a double. He's now hitting .306 on the season. Kelly Johnson went 2-3 Friday and his average is now up to .345.

Andy Marte went 0-4 Friday to snap a four-game hitting streak, but he's still hitting .361 on the season.

Richmond is now 3-6 on the season. They are only a game back of Durham and Norfolk in the South Division of the International League.

MISSISSIPPI

The Mississippi Braves go for their second straight-win tonight when they take on the Jacksonville Suns at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville at 7:05. Matt Wright will go to the hill for the Braves against Dodgers' prospect Eric Hull.

Mississippi won Friday night behind some timely hitting from Brian McCann, who got a bases loaded triple in the seventh inning to break the game open. McCann is now hitting .280 on the season with 7 RBI. Jonathan Schuerholz continued his hot hitting with a double. He's now hitting .370 on the season.

Jeff Francoeur singled in a run for his 9th RBI on the season. He also got his second walk of the year.

Zach Miner rebounded from a shaky first appearance to pitch well Friday night. He allowed only two runs on four hits in five innings of work, along with seven strikeouts. Macay McBride, who blew the lead for Miner, picked up the victory. McBride allowed two runs on four hits in 3.1 innings of work. Glenn Tucker got his first save of the season.

The Braves are now 2-6 on the season, five games back of Montgomery in the South Division of the Southern League.

MYRTLE BEACH

The first place Myrtle Beach Pelicans take on the Potomac Nationals Saturday night at 7:02 at Coastal Federal Field with right-hander Sean White on the mound against Nationals' lefty Mike O'Connor.

The Pelicans won 7-4 Friday night behind a pretty good power display. Outfielder Josh Burrus and catcher Miguel Bernard both hit their second homers of the season and first baseman Scott Schade added to his league leading RBI total (8) with his first homer of the year to help the Pelicans earn their second straight victory.

Myrtle Beach got some solid pitching as well. Juan Alvarez started and allowed two runs on five hits in the first four innings. Then Wes Letson came in and pitched 3.2 innings of relief to get his first win of the season. Bryan Digby closed things out for his second save going to final inning and a third.

The Pelicans are tied with Kinston for first place in the Carolina League's Southern Division with a 6-3 record.

ROME

After finally showing signs of some offense Friday night, the Rome Braves take on the Columbus Catfish Saturday afternoon at 1:00 with Jonny Venters on the mound.

Rome beat Columbus 10-2 Friday with nine runs in the fourth inning. The big blow was a grand slam by first baseman Keith Eichas. Cole Armstrong also doubled home three in the fourth inning. He now leads the team with eight runs batted in.

Luis Atilano pitched well for Rome in picking up his first win of the season. Atilano went five scoreless innings and allowed only two hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.

The Braves are now 3-5 on the season, three games behind Greenville in the Southern Division of the South Atlantic League.

Bill Shanks has a new book on baseball scouting and player development philosophies with the Braves as the main focus. Scout's Honor: The Bravest Way To Build A Winning Team will be out in a couple of weeks. Bill can be reached at