SMOKIES MAKE IT TWO IN A ROW OVER LOOKOUTS
Chirinos’ 3-for-4 night included second home run in as many nights; Smokies now 6-1
Tennessee (6-1) struck early for the second consecutive night. Ty Wright, Russ Canzler and Chirinos delivered back-to-back-to-back doubles, with the latter two hits scoring Wright and Canzler to give the Smokies the early 2-0 lead after one.
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Smokies’ recipe for success Thursday night against the Chattanooga Lookouts mirrored that of the Smokies’ series opening win one night earlier. Mixing strong pitching with an early offensive blitz, due in part to another big night at the plate by catcher Robinson Chirinos, the Smokies took down the Lookouts, 8-4, at Smokies Park.
Chirinos would add a third run for the Smokies two innings later off Lookouts starter Alberto Bastardo (1-1), as his second home run in as many nights put Tennessee up 3-0 in the fourth.
Chattanooga would rebound in the fifth on a RBI single by Andrew Lambo off Tennessee starter Jeremy Papelbon, cutting the Smokies lead to 3-1. Lambo’s hit would signal the end of the night for Papelbon. The lefty struck out seven across 4.1 innings of work, allowing the one earned run on eight hits. He didn’t allow a walk but did hit two Lookout batters.
Alex Maestri would relieve Papelbon and finish off the Lookouts in the fifth. While he did allow a second Lookouts run in the sixth, Maestri (1-0) would get the win by getting out of the sixth with the score 3-2 Tennessee.
The Smokies broke open the game in the bottom of the sixth with four runs to go up 7-2. Tennessee’s offense was aided by four walks and one hit batter by Lookouts reliever Harvey Garcia, as well as a Starlin Castro two-run single.
Nate Samson would close out the scoring for the Smokies, driving home teammate Russ Canzler on an infield single. It was Samson’s second RBI of the night.