Lookies Lose Second Straight Sunday At Smokies, 5-2

Young Prospects Are Failing To Hit.

  • Sunday, April 26, 2015
First baseman DJ Hicks hit a first-inning solo homer for Chattanooga.
First baseman DJ Hicks hit a first-inning solo homer for Chattanooga.
photo by Tim Evearitt

A four-run fifth inning broke a deadlocked 1-1 game and the Smokies went on to a 5-2 win over the Lookouts Sunday afternoon at Smokies Stadium.

Inning-by-inning game recap.

Smokies starting pitcher Frank Batista tossed seven solid innings of one-run ball, while four consecutive run-scoring singles from right fielder Almora Almora Jr., designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, first baseman Dan Vogelbach and catcher Willson Contreras to lead Tennessee to victory over the Chattanooga Lookouts.

The win was the fourth straight triumph for the Smokies, who improved their North Division best record to 10-5 this season.

With the loss, Chattanooga fell to 7-9 on the year, and have won just two of their last ten contests played.

Batista earned his second victory of the season with his outstanding performance, with his lone hiccup coming in the opening frame. Lookouts 1B DJ Hicks launched his second longball of the series, and the season, with a solo blast to deep right field to put Chattanooga up early at 1-0.

Celebrating his 26th birthday, the right-handed Batista retired the final 12 batters he faced from the fourth through seventh frames, recording six of his eight strikeouts in that span. The punchout total was the highest attained in the right-hander's professional career since July 24, 2010 against the Low-A Lake County Captains, when Batista fanned ten batters for the Peoria Chiefs.

The bullpen duo of Zach Cates and Starling Peralta supported Batista by tossing the final two frames to preserve the victory. Chattanooga starter Tyler Duffey suffered the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season after yielding five earned runs on eight hits in five innings of work.

After Chattanooga clubbed their way to an early advantage the Smokies would even the contest in the subsequent inning with a single tally. 2B Stephen Bruno laced a two-out double down the left field line, before he was sent in on LF Bijan Rademacher's run-scoring base hit to right.

The score would remain the same until the fifth, when Tennessee brought nine batters to the plate in a four-run frame. Rademacher led off with a line drive, advanced to second on an error and third on a sacrifice bunt, before coming plateward on Almora Jr.'s base hit to right to give the Smokies the lead. Schwarber, Vogelbach and Contreras would then immediately follow Almora Jr. with RBI singles of their own to push the lead to 5-1.

Chattanooga would threaten in the ninth, bringing the game within three runs with a single tally in the ninth. RF Travis Harrison began the inning with a free pass, and moved on to third on LF Adam Walker's double prior to coming across on 3B Stephen Wickens' RBI groundout.

Almora Jr. and Rademacher each collected two hits apiece to lead the Smokies offense, while no Lookouts hitters recorded a multi-hit effort. Vogelbach's RBI knock in the fifth extended his on-base streak, with the 22-year-old having now reached via a hit or walk in 15 consecutive games, including a hit in all but one of those contests.

After giving Byron Buxton two days off recently, manager Doug Mienktiewicz did the same with third baseman Miguel Sano. Both are key prospects of the Minnesota Twins. Sixteen games into the young season, Buxton is hitting .190. while Sano has a .173 average.

The Smokies will go for their fifth straight victory and try to clinch their series with Chattanooga Monday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from Smokies Stadium.

Tennessee is expected to give the nod to RHP Corey Black, while the Lookouts are anticipated to counter with RHP Jose Berrios.

Smokies' winning pitcher Frank Batista.
Smokies' winning pitcher Frank Batista.
photo by Tennessee Smokies
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