Jeremy Kehrt, a recent addition, won his first game as a member of the Lookouts.
photo by Tim Evearitt
Although they have an up-hill climb to make the playoffs, the Lookouts are not quitters.
Currently tied for second in the SL North Division, the Lookouts are 3.0 games behind the Tennessee Smokies. The Smokies and Lookouts will end the season with a five-game series at AT&T Field beginning August 28.
Chattanooga beat the Barons in their series finale by a score of 6-4 Thursday night in front of 7,859 fans at Regions Field.
Current Standings
The Barons jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second as Joey DeMichele drove in Jason Coats with an RBI triple and scored on a base hit by Michael Earley against starter Jeremy Kehrt, who was making his second start of the season for Chattanooga. Kehrt (1-0) threw 6.0 innings, gave up six hits and two earned runs.Chattanooga responded with three runs in the top of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead.
The inning started with Angel Sanchez reaching on a throwing error by third baseman Grant Buckner. Sanchez would score the first run of the inning on a triple by Scott Schebler. Schebler leads the Southern League with 13 triples and in home runs, with 26. Schebler would score to tie the game at 2-2 on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Mayora. Back-to-back doubles by Chris O'Brien and O'Koyea Dickson capped the inning but only one of the three runs against starter Myles Jaye were earned.
Another error in the fifth inning on a ground ball by Mayora allowed Sanchez to score from second base extending the Lookouts lead to 4-2.
Trayce Thompson cut the Lookouts lead to 4-3 in the seventh, sending a ringing double off the wall in right-center field.
Darnell Sweeney gave the Lookouts some insurance with a two-run triple in the top of the eighth inning against reliever Brandon Hardin extending their lead to 6-3.
The Barons again cut into the lead in the bottom half of the innings on another RBI triple by DeMichele, making it a 6-4 ballgame. It marked the second time this season that a Baron has collected two triples in a game following Jared Mitchell's two triple night against the Lookouts in Chattanooga on July 2nd.
However, the Barons were unable to mount a final rally, falling to 58-72 on the season and 29-31 in the second half while Chattanooga improved to 54-74 on the year and 28-30 in the second half.
Box
Chattanooga moves on Friday to face the Jackson Generals. Game time is 7:15 p.m. The Generals are in last place but only 5.0 games out of first.