Andrew Abbott pitches for Chattanooga in a win over the M-Braves Saturday night at AT&T Field.
photo by Joseph Dycus
What Andrew Abbott was going to throw was anyone’s guess. And “anyone” on the Mississippi Braves usually guessed wrong during the Lookouts’ 7-3 win. The lefthander with a multitude of breaking pitches completely befuddled Mississippi’s batters to the tune of 12 strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings of work.
He allowed only three hits and walked none in his Chattanooga debut.
Perhaps, he was aided by the presence of a loved one in the stands. Regardless of the circumstances, it was as solid a debut as one could ask for.
“It was a great atmosphere and I had my girlfriend in town, so it was fun,” Abbott said. “The guys came to play today, and I attacked them and set the tone from the start.”
It has been a fantastic week for Robbie “Byrd” Tenerowicz. On Wednesday, he slapped a walkoff single in extra innings. And in the bottom of Saturday’s first, he got ahold of a Darius Vines offering and belted it over the center-field wall for a 420 foot homer. Isiah Gilliam, who had gotten on right before him, was there to greet the Byrd at home.
“The baseball looked like a beachball tonight,” Byrd Tenerowicz said.
In the bottom of the second, it was Quin Cotton’s turn to take Vines deep. Cotton, who is more known for his defense than his bat, lit up Vines on an opposite field solo shot that put the Lookouts lead at 3-0.
After Abbott kept a lid on the Braves offense for the next few innings, Byrd struck again in the bottom of the fifth. This time, Tenerowicz smacked a ball over the left-field wall for a solo shot that went 386 feet, the Lookouts’ ninth hit of the night up to that point.
In the top of the sixth, Leo Rivas showed off his range at shortstop with a full body extended diving catch to stop a single from rolling into the grass. He then popped up and fired a strike to first base, saving Abbott from surrendering a rare hit.
“I think I just did what me and (pitching coach) Rob (Wooten talked) about, and sticking to that plan,” Abbott said. “We didn’t waver from it. I was kind of mad I was taken out in the sixth, but I did my job as long as I could.”
“It was fun to work on my strikeout throw around the bases, that’s what I’ll say,” Tenerowicz said. “Like I was telling Alex Tainsh, he was nasty. He looked like a big-leaguer rehabbing out there.”
After Abbott left with in the sixth with his amazing statline, Pedro Garcia was called upon to get the final out along with another inning of work. Garcia answered the call by striking out all four batters he faced, lowering his ERA to 2.63.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Lookouts loaded the bases after Tenerowicz was plunked with a pitch. AJ Puckett was just as erratic as Vines, almost walking TJ Hopkins on four pitches. Hopkins had singled earlier in the fifth inning after coming in off the bench, which drew praise from Tenerowicz.
Francisco Urbaez singled into right to score one in the next at-bat, and then Tenerowicz was able to slide into home when the relay throw went far over the catcher’s head. James Free scored another run to make it 6-0, and Free was called safe after the throw from second was lazily lofted to first.
The Braves got three off Ryan Nutof in the eighth, but it was too little far too late for the Braves, who could not overcome their early-game struggles. Andy Fisher came in after Nutof and closed out the night. The Lookouts will have an opportunity to tie the series on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the series.
BOX SCORE:
M-BRAVES: 000 000 030 – 3/6/1
LOOKOUTS: 210 010 30X – 7/13/2
WP: ABBOTT
LP: VINES
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