Byron Buxton hit his second home run of the season.
photo by Tim Evearitt
Two of the most talented teams in the Southern League went toe-to-toe Saturday night with the home run ball flying out on a regular basis assisted by strong winds.The Tennessee Smokies topped the Chattanooga Lookouts in a wild 16-10 series opening win at Smokies Stadium in front of a season-high 5,117 fans.
Inning-by-inning game recap
Twins No.1 prospect Byron Buxton smacked his second Double-A homer and drove in a season-high four runs. Buxton went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer in a game that featured a combined 27 hits and five lead changes.
Seventeen of the 18 starters recorded a hit and only one player on either side failed to score a run on a night in which 11 mph wind gusts made every fly ball an adventure.
Teammate Levi Michael stole two bases and finished a triple shy of the cycle, while Jorge Polanco and Dalton Hicks homered. Twins No. 2 prospect Miguel Sano was 1-for-5 with a double, lifting his average to .173.
Lookouts starter Alex Wimmers surrendered nine runs on 10 hits and three walks while striking out two over 4 1/3 innings. Jake Reed (0-2) took the loss after giving up three unearned runs on a pair of hits in 1 2/3 frames.
With the win, the Smokies maintain their lead in the Southern League's North Division and own a 9-5 mark in 2015. The defeat drops Chattanooga below .500 to 7-8.
Smokies first baseman Dan Vogelbach recorded three hits, including a home run, and drove in three runs, while Tennessee second baseman Stephen Bruno smashed the first grand slam of his professional career.
Vogelbach reached base all five times he came to the plate, recording three hits, three RBI and two walks to lead the club, while Bruno's grand slam was his first in the 25-year-old's professional career. Smokies LF Pin-Chieh Chen also recorded three hits in the contest, while RF Albert Almora Jr. and DH Willson Contreras each tallied multi-hit efforts.
Chattanooga's second baseman Michael led all Lookouts batters with three hits, while center fielder Buxton and shortstop Jorge Polanco each homered and accumulated two base knocks.
The two teams combined for 26 runs, 27 hits and five home runs, as well as five lead changes in the roller coaster affair. All nine Smokies hitters in the batting order, as well as eight of nine Lookouts batters, recorded at least one hit, while eight of nine Smokies also scored at least one run.
Tennessee and Chattanooga combined for 18 runs in the middle three frames alone, with the Smokies taking the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth.
Vogelbach also drove in his first run in the opening frame via his solo shot to right in the first, his third big fly of the season, though Chattanooga would roar back thanks to round trippers of their own. Lookouts first baseman DJ Hicks began the fourth with a solo homer to right, while Buxton blasted a three-run longball to left as part of a five-run inning that launched the Lookouts ahead 6-3.
The Smokies, however, answered right back with a big six-run fifth, highlighted by Bruno's grand slam. Almora Jr. started the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly and Vogelbach brought home a tally with an RBI single to cut Tennessee's deficit to one before DH Willson Contreras walked to load the bases for Bruno. The second baseman crushed the first pitch of the at bat to deep center, clearing the bases and sending the crowd into a frenzy as Tennessee took a 9-6 advantage.
That lead would be short-lived, however, as the Lookouts came right back with a four-spot in the top of the sixth. RF Max Kepler started things with a walk, stole second and then took third on a wild pitch before coming plateward on 2B Levi Michael's run-scoring double. After Michael was sent in via Buxton's RBI base knock, Polanco pulverized the 0-1 offer over the right field fence to push Chattanooga ahead again 10-9. The Smokies, however, would plate seven unanswered tallies to seize control of the contest for good.
The left-handed slugging Vogelbach has gotten off to one of the best starts in the Minor Leagues this season, and after tonight's effort owns a .460 batting average (23-50), adding 11 runs, seven doubles, thre homers and 12 RBI in 14 contests. The reigning Southern League Player of the Week has reached base in each game this season, in addition to recording hits in all but one of those contests thus far, and ranks among the top three in most of the circuit's offensive categories.
Tennessee reliever Fernando Cruz earned his first win of the season, while C.J. Edwards and P.J. Francescon finished the job by tossing the final three shutout frames.
Lookouts relief man Jake Reed suffered his second loss of the season to fall to 0-2 in 2015. Neither Smokies starter Rob Zastryzny (3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO), nor Lookouts righty Alex Wimmers (4.1 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO) factored in the final decisions.
The two teams are set to face off again Sunday afternoon for the second game of their five-game set, with first pitch scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET. Tennessee is expected to give the ball to RHP Frank Batista (1-0, 0.84), while Chattanooga is anticipated to counter with RHP Tyler Duffey (0-1, 1.74).
Levi Michael had three hits in the game.
photo by Tim Evearitt