Tyler Jay
photo by Ft. Myers Miracles
The Lookouts fell to the Smokies Sunday as Tennessee came back to win 5-4 at Smokies Park.
Lefty Tyler Jay was on the mound for the Lookouts in this one, making his AA debut. He ran into some early trouble, but finished five innings and didn’t factor into the decision. Jay was the number six overall pick in last year’s draft and comes highly touted as the #2 Twins prospect, #52 prospect in the top 100, and #4 of the top ten LHP prospects in all of baseball (per MLBPipeline).
Chattanooga’s offense gave him an early 3-0 lead, as a two-run double from D.J. Hicks in the first was followed by an RBI single from Zach Granite in the second.
In the Smokies half of the second inning it was a walk and four singles, including three ground balls that found their way through the infield that led to a 3-3 tie. It remained that way until the fifth, when Jay gave up his first AA home run to the leadoff man. All told, Jay allowed four earned runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out four.
The Lookouts again tied the game in the sixth, as back-to-back doubles from Travis Harrison and Leonardo Reginatto made it 4-4.
Ryan Eades came on in relief of Jay, and would finish the game but also ended up with the loss when he allowed a solo-home run to the second batter he faced. He went three innings, allowing the lone run on three hits and a walk. He struck out five.
Zach Granite returned to the Lookouts lineup after two days off with a 2-for-3 night at the plate to go with a run scored, a run driven in and two walks. That performance elevated Granite to a .524 batting average (11-for-21) in the month of July. In 12 second half games, Granite is hitting .435 with eight runs scored, seven driven in, a homer, twice as many walks as strikeouts (4-2) and two stolen bases.
Chattanooga’s lineup got multi-hit efforts from Reginatto (2-4, 2B, RBI), and Niko Goodrum (2-4, R, 2B). Granite added two outfield assists from center on the defensive side.
After both finishing with a pair of hits Sunday, Granite and Reginatto are hitting .349 and .375 respectively against the Smokies. Granite also has two homers, two triples and a double while driving in six and scoring 10 times himself. Reginatto has five doubles, six runs accounted for (2 scored, 4 RBI) and four walks.
Box
The two teams meet again Monday night at Smokies Park. Chattanooga's Felix Jorge makes his 2016 debut for the Lookouts after being called up July 7 from the Ft. Myers Miracles where he was 9-3 with a 1.55 ERA in 14 GS with 11 walks compared to 77K in 93 innings pitched.