Fernando Romero had his second straight short outing for the Lookouts.
photo by Tim Evearitt
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp right-hander Omar Bencomo pitched six shutout innings, and three relievers combined with him for a 4-0 shutout of the Chattanooga Lookouts in front of 10,023 at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville Friday night.
Facing his former club for the first time, Bencomo (2-0) only allowed one baserunner to reach second base in six innings. He allowed four hits, walked one batter and struck out six, and he has not allowed a run in 11 total innings this season.
For a second straight night, Jacksonville took a first-inning lead. Against right-hander Fernando Romero (0-2), third baseman Brian Anderson and designated hitter David Vidal drew consecutive two-out walks, and left fielder Alex Glenn hit an RBI double to right field.
In the second inning, shortstop KC Serna walked, went to third base on center fielder Jeremias Pineda's double and scored on second baseman Yefi Perez's RBI groundout.
In the third inning, Anderson walked and later scored on catcher Cam Maron's two-out single that ended Romero's night after 2 2/3 innings. Perez added an eighth-inning RBI single against left-hander Mason Melotakis for the final run, an unearned run on two hits.
Chattanooga could not take advantage of two scoring opportunities late in the game. The Lookouts loaded the bases with three walks in the seventh inning before Jacksonville right-hander Tyler Kinley escaped the inning.
Kinley loaded the bases in the eighth inning but kept the Lookouts scoreless, and right-hander Tyler Bremer worked around a hit and walk for a shutout ninth inning and his first save.
Lookouts' lefty Nik Turley came on and was impressive again. In 4 1/3 scoreless innings, he gave up two hits, walked one and struck out eight. That gives him one walk and 18 strikeouts in his 8 1/3 innings so far this season.
The Lookouts managed just seven hits in being shutout. Engelb Vielma went 2-4 with a walk. Ryan Walker had the lone extra base hit, his second double of the season.
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The five-game series continues at 6:05 p.m. Saturday, when Jacksonville left-hander Mike Kickham (0-0) is scheduled to face Lookouts right-hander Felix Jorge (0-0).