Late Rally Falls A Run Short In Shuckers' Defeat
A rally in the final two innings came up just short in a 4-3 defeat for the Biloxi Shuckers (39-45, 5-12 2nd Half) against the Tennessee Smokies (46-40, 9-8 2nd Half) on Saturday night at Smokies Stadium. Trailing 4-0 in the top of the eighth inning, Brent Diaz was hit
A rally in the final two innings came up just short in a 4-3 defeat for the Biloxi Shuckers (39-45, 5-12 2nd Half) against the Tennessee Smokies (46-40, 9-8 2nd Half) on Saturday night at Smokies Stadium.
Trailing 4-0 in the top of the eighth inning, Brent Diaz was hit by a pitch with one out and Sal Frelick followed with a hustle double, putting two men in scoring position. RHP Graham Lawson struck out the next batter, but Garrett Mitchell drove in both runners with a single into left field, pulling the Shuckers within two runs at 4-2. Thomas Dillard was hit by a pitch to place the tying run on base, but Lawson induced a fielder’s choice to end the frame.
In the top of the ninth, Felix Valerio worked a one-out walk against RHP Danis Correa (S, 4). Gabe Holt then hit a one-hop smash to Chase Strumpf, who made an errant throw to second that allowed Valerio to advance and Holt to reach on a fielder’s choice. With Diaz batting, Correa uncorked two wild pitches that scored Valerio and moved Holt to third. The Shuckers’ catcher worked an 11-pitch at bat before flying out to right field. Frelick reached on catcher’ interference, but Correa was able to get a ground out to end the game.
For the Shuckers, RHP Victor Castañeda (L, 1-5) got the start and pitched well across 5.1 innings. The righty surrendered two runs in the bottom of the third inning on a walk, a single and a double, but responded by retiring nine of the next ten batters, including five of his seven strikeouts.
The Smokies chased Castañeda in the home half of the sixth inning when Alexander Canario hit a two-run home run, his 15th of the year. On the mound, RHP Walker Powell (W, 1-2) limited the Shuckers to just one hit over five scoreless innings.
Biloxi closes out their six-game series with the Smokies on Sunday afternoon at Smokies Stadium. RHP T.J. Shook (2-1, 5.12) takes the bump for the Shuckers against Tennessee LHP Jordan Wicks (NR) for a 1:00 pm CT first pitch. The game can be seen on MiLB.TV and heard locally on WGCM AM 1240/FM 100.9 or online here. Individual tickets, Shuck Nation Memberships, Flex Plans and group outings are available for the 2022 season by calling (228) 233-3465 or visiting biloxishuckers.com.
ABOUT THE BILOXI SHUCKERS:
The Biloxi Shuckers are the Double-A Affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Shuckers are members of the Southern League and play at MGM Park in Biloxi, Mississippi. For more information please visit biloxishuckers.comand follow us on Twitter @biloxishuckers and at facebook.com/biloxishuckers.