Max Kepler had a bases-clearing double in the 7 run seventh inning.
photo by Tim Evearitt
There wasn’t a lot of pretty stuff to talk about this game except for one inning. One really big inning. Trailing 7-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lookouts exploded for seven runs. capped off by a go-ahead, two-run homer by the Southern League home run leader, Adam Brett Walker - to defeat Tennessee 8-7 on Wednesday night at AT&T Field.
The Lookouts, the team that won the first half title in the Southern League North Division - improved to 52-40 in total and 9-15 in the second leg of the 2015 campaign.
Starting pitcher Brett Lee got a no-decision after pitching five innings and giving up six runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk. He struck out three.
Lookouts starting pitcher Brett Lee received a no-decision in Wednesday's win.
Trailing by six runs, Chattanooga started their tremendous rally with a one-out walk to Aderling Mejia. A single by Shannon Wilkerson ended the evening for Smokies starter Pierce Johnson. With two on and one out, right-hander Corey Black immediately ran into trouble. Levi Michael was issued a free pass to load the bases and Heiker Meneses was hit by a pitch to force home a run and trim the Smokies' lead to 7-2.
Things only got worse from there. Southern League hitting leader Max Kepler continued the attack by crushing a double to deep left field. Bijan Rademacher chased it down, but not before the ball caromed off the wall. All three runners came across to score on Kepler's double to cut the Lookouts' deficit to 7-5. Kepler leads Southern League hitting with a .331 average.
Kennys Vargas - who started the season in the Major Leagues with the Minnesota Twins - proceeded to clang a line drive into center field for another base-hit. Kepler scampered around from second to score, cutting the lead down to just a run at 7-6.
Kennys Vargas went 1-for-3 in the game.
Finally, it was Walker who uncorked the go-ahead blow. On a 1-2 pitch, demolished an offering to left. Walker's two-run blast - his league-best 26th of the year - capped off the seven-run comeback and put Chattanooga ahead for good, 8-7.
Manager and coach Doug Mientkiewicz has congratulated Walker 26 times this season.
This all came after the Smokies jumped out of the gate early by hanging four runs on the board in the game's opening frame.
The Lookouts scratched a run across in the bottom of the first on a RBI single by Walker, before Tennessee padded its lead by scoring a run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Despite a stellar evening, Johnson did not factor into the decision for the Smokies. The right-hander lasted 6 1/3 innings and punched out a season-best eight hitters.
Lookouts reliever Matt Summers tossed 2 2/3 innings of one-run relief to garner his first victory with Chattanooga. Right-hander Alex Muren recorded the final four outs of the ballgame to record his third save in as many tries with the Lookouts.
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Thursday night, the Lookouts aim to carry over their momentum over to a 7:15 p.m. contest against the Smokies. DJ Baxendale (4-2, 4.04) gets the nod for the home team against lefty Rob Zaztryzny (0-3, 5.29).
Heiker Meneses slides across safely with the Lookouts first run.
photo by Tim Evearitt