Schwarber's Smash Sparks 6-5 Win
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - For the second straight night, the Smokies blew a pair of leads, but C Kyle Schwarber saved the day, as the power-hitting backstop smashed a home run to right field in the top of the 10th inning to lead Tennessee to a 6-5 victory over the Birmingham Barons on Saturday night at Regions Field.
With the victory, Tennessee improves its record to 12-9 and drops the Barons back to .500 with an 11-11 record. The win also puts the Smokies 1.5 games ahead of Birmingham for first place in the Southern League North.
With no one on and two outs, Schwarber (1-5, R, HR, RBI) took a 3-1 pitch that he thought was outside. The Cubs' first-round pick from a year ago began to stroll towards first base, but the pitch was called a strike to run the count full. Schwarber did not flinch, as he served the next offering from Barons' RHP J.B. Wendelken (1.0 IP, 2 H, R, ER, SO) well over the wall in right field for a go-ahead solo home run. The blast tied Schwarber with Montgomery's Richie Shaffer and Chattanooga's Adam Brett Walker for the league-lead in longballs with five and gave Tennessee a 6-5 lead.
Like earlier in the night, Birmingham did not go down without a fight. After tying the game against Smokies closer RHP P.J. Francescon (2.1 IP, 4 H, R, ER, SO) in the bottom of the 9th on a two-out single to right field by CF Jacob May (2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, 3 SB), the Barons came storming back in extras.
After DH Brian Fletcher (1-4, 3B, 2 RBI, 3 SO) struck out, 1B Danny Hayes (0-5, SO) hit a high fly ball down the left field line. The ball was dropped in the outfield and Hayes was safe at second on the two-base error. Hayes was then lifted for pinch-runner Marcus Lemon and C Adrian Nieto (2-5, 3B, 2 SO) followed with a single to left to put runners on the corners. With the tying and winning runs on base and a 0-2 count on 3B Jeremy Farrell (2-5, 2 R, 2 2B), Francescon induced a ground ball to second base. 2B Stephen Bruno flipped to SS Elliot Soto, who threw to first base for the game-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Tennessee also grabbed the lead in the fifth and eighth innings against the Barons. Trailing 2-0 in the fifth, 1B Dan Vogelbach (3-4, R, 2B, 3B, RBI, BB, SO) cranked the Smokies' first hit of the game with a double off the wall in dead center field. After DH Willson Contreras (1-5, R) singled to put runners at the corners, Bruno (1-4, R, 2B, RBI) doubled to center to make it a 2-1 game.
RF Bijan Rademacher (1-4, R, HR, 3 RBI) followed up Bruno's RBI knock with a blast of his own. The left-handed swinger poked a high fly ball deep down the line in left field that carried up and out of the ballpark for a three-run home run. The homer was Rademacher's second of the season and it gave Tennessee a 4-2 lead.
Birmingham would tie it up in the bottom half of the frame. Farrell kicked off the rally with a double to center and advanced to third on a fly out. SS Tim Anderson (1-4, SO) struck out and May walked to put runners at the corners with two out. With LF Courtney Hawkins (3-5, R, RBI, SO) at the plate, May broke for second base. The throw down went into center field, which allowed Farrell to score and May to move to third and trim the Smokies lead to 4-3. The error proved costly, as Hawkins proceeded to reach on a infield single to short to tie the game at four.
Tennessee took back the advantage in the top of the eighth. After a one-out infield single to third by LF Pin-Chieh Chen (1-5, R, SO), Vogelbach laced a ball down the left field line and into the corner. Chen raced all the way around from first to score, as Vogelbach motored into third with a go-ahead RBI triple to put the Smokies in front, 5-4.
Neither team's starting pitcher factored into the decision despite solid efforts. Birmingham's RHP Myles Jaye (5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 SO) carried a perfect game into the fifth inning, but was unable to work into the sixth inning. Tennessee RHP Corey Black (5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO) picked up his third no-decision of the year and set a Smokies single-game high for the year with ten punch outs.
Francescon (2.1 IP, 4 H, R, ER, SO) was charged with his first blown save of the year, but went a season-high 2.1 innings to tally his first win of the year. Wendelken (1.0 IP, 2 H, R, ER, SO), who picked up the save in the series opener on Thursday, took home his first loss of the 2015 campaign.
Eight of nine Smokies' hitters collected a base-hit, led by Vogelbach (3-4, R, 2B, 3B, RBI, BB, SO) who finished a home run shy of the cycle and collected his team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the season. May (2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, 3 SB), Hawkins (3-5, R, RBI, SO), Nieto (2-5, 3B, 2 SO) and Farrell (2-5, 2 R, 2 2B) all recorded multi-hit efforts for the Barons.
Tennessee will look to continue their winning ways tomorrow afternoon, as RHP Ivan Pineyro (1-0, 4.35 ERA) is scheduled to make his fifth start of the season. He is projected to be opposed by Barons' RHP Frankie Montas (0-0, 3.48 ERA).
The Pilot Pre-Game Show will kick off the broadcast at 3:45 p.m. ET, leading up to a 4:00 p.m. ET first pitch from Regions Field. Tomorrow's broadcast can be heard exclusively on SmokiesBaseball.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.
The Smokies will return home to Kodak on Monday, May 11, as they start a five-game series agains the Montgomery Biscuits, the Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate. Single-game tickets, as well as multi-voucher and season ticket packages are still available, and can be purchased online at smokiesbaseball.com, or by calling the Smokies Ticket Office at 865-286-2300.
ABOUT THE TENNESSEE SMOKIES
The Tennessee Smokies are the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. Members of the ten-team Southern League, Smokies baseball has been entertaining families and fans of America's national pastime in the East Tennessee region for over 100 years. To learn more about the Tennessee Smokies, visit www.smokiesbaseball.com.