Seth Loman slides across home plate safely as the ball gets away from catcher Chris O'Brien.
photo by Tim Evearitt
The Chattanooga Lookouts (19-30) allowed nine runs over the first two innings en route to a 15-2 loss to the Mississippi Braves (27-22) in the fifth and final game of their five - game series. The contest was played in front of a packed stadium of 5,243 on Memorial Day Fireworks Night at AT&T Field.
Starting pitcher Garrett Gould (L, 1-5) struggled from the start, walking two of the first three batters he faced.. A single by Seth Loman, a wild pitch and a single by Matt Kennelly made the score 3-0. With one runner on, Barrett Kleinknecht smacked his second home run of the year to give the Braves the five-run lead.
The Braves' offensive assault continued in the second inning when they added four more runs. Chattanooga was able to get on the board in the bottom of that inning when Jeremy Hazelbaker and O’Koyea Dickson each drove home a run.
The two runs would be all the Lookouts' would manufacture as Braves’ starting pitcher Aaron Northcraft (W, 5-2), reliever Chasen Shreve and reliever Eric Berger would combine to throw six straight shutout innings.
In the ninth inning the Braves capped off their win with five more runs to make the final score 15-2. Brian Cavazos-Galvez came in to pitch in the ninth inning to become the first Lookouts posistion player to pitch this season and recorded an easy out to get out of the inning.
Monday, the Lookouts travel to Birmingham for Memorial Day baseball. Before the team begins their five-game series they will finish their suspended game from April 28th. The game will resume in the top of the 7th inning with the Barons leading 6-2. That game will begin at 6:15 p.m. with the regularly scheduled game set to begin at 8:05 p.m. RHP NIck Struck (0-3, 6.87) will be matched up against RHP Nick McCully (2-4, 6.41) in the day's second game.
As a reminder that the Minor Leagues are primarily about player development, the Lookouts bid farewell to Pedro Baez who has made a successful switch from an infielder to a closing pitcher. On May 25, Baez was sent to AAA Albuquerque.
Seth Loman crosses home after hitting a three-run homer.
photo by Tim Evearitt