Chattanooga used big fifth and sixth innings to roll to a 7-1 win over the Birmingham Barons.
The Lookouts got off to a great start early. Alex McGarry smacked a single, stole a base, and scored on a James Free single.
Birmingham tied the game up at the top of the second with a homer by Luis Mieses. In the fifth, Chattanooga opened a lead on a Francisco Urbaez two-run double. The home team blew the game wide open an inning later. With two runners on McAffee drove in Allan Cerda and Nick Quintana. Marte followed that up with a double to make it 7-1. That hit was Marte's fourth double of the season.
While the Lookouts offense was scoring, starting pitcher Sam Benschoter shut down the Barons. The right-hander turned in his best start of the year, only allowing one run on two hits in 5.2 innings. Eduardo Salazar came in for Benschoter and threw 2.1 shutout innings with five strikeouts. So far in 2023, Salazar has only allowed one earned run and has 19 strikeouts in 11.1 innings.
Chattanooga aims to get to .500 next on Star Wars Night at AT&T Field. The first pitch is at 7:15 p.m