written by Bill Vilona
The Blue Wahoos ended their season losing streak in a special way.
They got an unprecedented performance from starting pitcher Patrick Monteverde on Tuesday night, followed by a convincing performance from relievers Woo-Suk Go and Dale Stanavich to earn a 1-0 win over the Mississippi Braves and begin their week-long home series with a new record in franchise history.
This ended the Blue Wahoos’ six-game losing streak and marked the first time they won a game while allowing just one hit. All 11 previous times in team history when they allowed just one hit ended in losses.
Monteverde, 26, a left-hander who helped the Blue Wahoos win the 2022 Southern League championship and had outstanding performances last season that earned him a promotion to Triple-A Jacksonville this season, was able to reproduce his dominant form.
He allowed just two hits, no walks and 10 strikeouts in seven innings. Monteverde didn’t hesitate when asked if this was his best performance in 2024.
“Yeah… finally,” he said, smiling. “It’s been a rollercoaster this year, but it’s always good to get another shutout and, more importantly, help the team get back to winning ways.”
When he left the field, Woo-Suk Go and Stanavich followed in the eighth and ninth innings, allowing no baserunners. It was the Blue Wahoos’ best overall pitching streak of the season, holding the M-Braves to just two hits and no walks, and notching 12 strikeouts.
And it came at a crucial time, as the Blue Wahoos (63-56 overall, 25-26 in the second half) hope to stay in the playoff race. Before Tuesday’s win, they had lost 11 of their last 13 games.
“In this series that started last week (against Tennessee Smokies), we obviously got swept and to be honest, we didn’t think we were inferior, if that makes sense,” Monteverde said. “We knew we had a good club here and we know what we’re capable of.”
“So I made it clear before this week…not that I had to, everyone in the clubhouse knows we’re in for a big week. These guys (M-Braves) have moved ahead of us in the standings and we need to get back on track and win a series at our place.”
Neither team had a hit in the first four innings on Tuesday. M-Braves starter Jhancarlos Lara had allowed five walks in that stretch, including two to start the second inning, but the Blue Wahoos were unable to take advantage.
The first hit of the game was a one-out single in the fifth inning by Adam Zabrowski of the M-Braves – who reached base first after Monteverde retired the first 13 batters he faced.
Monteverde then struck out the next two batters and the Blue Wahoos scored a run in their half of the fifth inning.
Johnny Olmstead and Jakob Marsee had back-to-back walks with one out. On a double-steal attempt, Olmstead was thrown out at third base. But shortstop Jared Serna managed a two-out single after Olmstead got M-Braves shortstop Cal Conley out of position with aggressive baserunning.
From that point on, the M-Braves’ only baserunner was thrown out in the sixth inning while attempting to steal. Up until that point, the pitching was exceptional.
When the game ended, Blue Wahoos catcher Joe Mack hugged Stanavich. Mack then joined Stanavich in getting a bucket of water from the cooler to pour over Monteverde as he gave a postgame interview on the field.
“This clubhouse is great,” Monteverde said. “I look forward to coming to the stadium every day. There’s no rush. We know we still have some time and we can get going at any time.”
“Sometimes a game like this is the moment when the offense (comes into action). This wasn’t their best day, but they performed with timely hits when they needed to, and (Tuesday) was one of those days. Thankfully, that’s all it took. But the overall mood and atmosphere in the clubhouse is great.”
This series evokes some sentimentality. It is the last time in the club’s history that the Blue Wahoos will play against the Mississippi Braves.
The M-Braves will move to Columbus, Georgia in 2025, where they will play at the remodeled Synovus Park (formerly Golden Park) stadium, which sits along the Chattahoochee River that separates the Georgia-Alabama state line. The 98-year-old stadium is currently undergoing a $50 million renovation, and the facility is scheduled to be completed in April 2025, when the next season begins.
If the move occurs, the Atlanta Braves’ top four affiliates will all be in the state of Georgia and will all be more than a two-hour drive from Atlanta, with Gwinnett (Triple-A), Columbus, Rome, Georgia (High-A) and Augusta (Class A).
The second game of the series is scheduled for Wednesday (6:05 p.m.). The Blue Wahoos will send left-hander Luis Palacios to the mound and face the M-Braves’ top pitcher, Landon Harper (2-1, 1.46 ERA).
