By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
Hayden Deal pitched in relief for the first time this season on Saturday night and netted his 20th pro baseball career win.
The Mississippi Braves nipped Birmingham 1-0 on the road with Deal pitching 2 2/3 innings. He allowed no runs, walked two, struck out three and threw a wild pitch.
After making 15 starts this season, Deal came out of the bullpen as the second of four Mississippi pitchers.
He improved to 3-2 with an ERA of 3.69 as a crowd of 4,392 saw him throw strikes on 23 of his 39 pitches and face 10 batters.
Deal is now 20-15 in pro ball with an ERA of 3.08 and 272 strikeouts in 304 1/3 innings pitched. He has thrown 75 2/3 innings this season and struck out 64.
Mississippi is 47-36 and shares the Double-A South’s South Division lead with Montgomery (Ala.).
The series continues Saturday and Sunday in Birmingham.
SATURDAY’S BOXSCORE: https://www.milb.com/gameday/braves-vs-barons/2021/08/07/644975#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=644975
CURRENT DOUBLE-A SOUTH STANDINGS: https://www.milb.com/standings
HAYDEN DEAL’S PRO CAREER STATS: https://www.baseballamerica.com/players/97015/hayden-deal/
OPENING DAY ROSTER: https://img.mlbstatic.com/milb-images/image/upload/milb/grt68kumu6hm1gydrvmg.pdf
MISSISSIPPI BRAVES SCHEDULE: https://www.milb.com/mississippi/schedule/2021-05