Miguel Sano hit his fourth home run this year.
photo by Tim Evearitt
Down three runs in the sixth inning the Lookouts (9-11) tied the game up, but the team gave up two runs in the eighth to drop game one of the series to the Jacksonville Suns (10-10), 6-4.
Inning-by-inning game recap.
The game began as a back-and-forth affair as Jacksonville scored the first run of the game in the second inning.
In the third inning the Lookouts responded thanks to Byron Buxton's hustle. MiLB's number one prospect drew a walk with one out and proceeded to steal second. On second the speedster raced home on a Jorge Polanco single.
In the fifth inning Buxton almost scored another run when he smacked his second triple of the season. The outfielder then attempted to score on a Polanco fly ball, but was thrown out at home.
An inning later the Suns got their bats going when Kenny Wilson led off with a double. Jacksonville then strung together three straight hits to plate two runs. They then drove in the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly.
With two outs in the sixth the Lookouts received a boost when Miguel Sano blasted his fourth home run of the year. The blast was followed by a Travis Harrison single, a Stuart Turner RBI single and a game-tying RBI double by Levi Michael.
The game remained deadlocked at four runs a piece until the Suns scored the deciding two runs in the eighth inning.
Brian Ellington (W, 2-1) would earn the victory throwing a scoreless 1 1/3 innings in relief while not allowing a hit or a walk and striking out three. Nick Burdi (L, 1-3) took the loss after allowing two earned runs on three hits while walking one and striking out a solo batter.
Friday at 7:15 PM the two teams return for the second game of the series on Star Wars Night. Chattanooga's RHP Tyler Duffey (0-2, 3.14) will face off against RHP Jake Esch (2-1, 2.38).