Byron Buxton on his way to a league-leading triple.
photo by Tim Evearitt
The Chattanooga Lookouts (14-12) allowed four unearned runs in the first inning, but scored 10 unanswered to claim the second game of the series, 10-4, against the Jackson Generals (11-13) in front of a crowd of 5,340.
Inning-by-innng game recap
Already down four runs, the Lookouts' bats wasted no time heating up.
Miguel Sano led off the bottom of the second with his first of three singles on the night. Travis Harrison followed that up with a single and Stuart Turner drew a walk to load the bases for Heiker Meneses who smacked a two-run single to cut the deficit in half. Byron Buxton stepped to the plate and smashed his league leading sixth triple of the season to clear the bases and tie the game.
The scoring continued in the fourth inning on a RBI triple by Stephen Wickens and a RBI single by Jorge Polanco. Meneses struck again in the fifth with another RBI single. The infielder finished the day with a season-high three RBIs.
Chattanooga was not done scoring as they tacked on three more runs in the seventh. Adam Brett Walker II blasted his league-high seventh home run, a two-run shot, and Max Kepler was plated on a groundball by Meneses.
Not to be out done by the team's offense the team's pitching also preformed well, compiling eight straight shutout innings. Tyler Duffey led the charge with six innings and seven strikeouts for his second win of the season. The righty now has 37 on the year. Relievers Jake Reed and Nick Burdi followed Duffey and combined for three innings of one hit ball and four Ks.
Notes:
The Lookouts entered the night trailing Southern League North Division leading Tennesee by 1 1/2 games and with the Smokies loss Thursday, trail Tennessee by a half game.
RHP Dalton Baxendale leads pitchers in the Southern League with 2-0 record an 0.86 ERA. He is tied for strikeouts with 29.
Baseball America has named the Chattanooga Lookouts as the second most talented team in Minor League baseball. The Lookouts trail the Pawtucket Red Sox who have five prospects in Baseball America's Top 100.
The Lookouts have added RHP Madison Boer. Boer is coming from Ft. Myers where he compiled a 2-2 record with an ERA of 1.62. Last season he had two Double-A with Rock Cats in which he pitched a combined 3 1/3 innings and gave up one run.
Byron Buxton's eight-game hitting streak came to an end Tuesday night, but he still drove in a run. Buxton hit .455 (15-for-33) during his streak and raised his average from .190 to .286. He also slugged seven extra-base hits and stole five bases in that stretch. Buxton is tied for first in the SL with 18 runs scored. He leads the league with five triples.
Last week Zach Jones earned his sixth save of the year. He has converted all six of his save opportunities. Jones has thrown seven scoreless innings and is tied for Southern League in saves. He has already passed his 2014 total and is only eight saves away from his career high (14) set in 2013 in which he was 14-of-18 in save opportunities with a 1.85 ERA.
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On Fireworks Friday the Lookouts will look to start another winning streak as they play game three against the Generals. The 7:15 pm contest will feature top pitching prospect Jose Berrios on the mound for Chattanooga.
Starting pitcher Tyler Duffey evened his record at 2-2.
photo by Tim Evearitt