BayBears Swept by Smokies in Tennessee

KODAK, Tenn. - An exciting finish at Smokies Park on Monday night left the BayBears wanting a little more as they fell to the Tennessee Smokies for the fifth consecutive contest in a 6-5 defeat.

Ollie Linton was at second base with two outs in the top of the ninth when he broke for third. The pitch from Chris Carpenter (S, 1) bounced past catcher Luis Flores as Linton stole third and was waved home by BayBears (23-20) skipper Turner Ward. Flores grabbed the loose ball and tossed to Carpenter at the plate, who tagged a sliding Linton for the final out on a very close play.

Tennessee (29-16) won four of the five ballgames in this series by one or two runs as they pulled off a comeback victory. The BayBears had a 4-1 lead after three innings before the Smokies tied it with two home runs. Flores cracked a solo shot off Wade Miley in the fifth while Rebel Ridling evened the score as he punched a two-run shot to dead center.

In the seventh, the BayBears reclaimed the lead as Marc Krauss poked a two-out double to left-center field, bringing Paul Goldschmidt around from first to score. Krauss put the BayBears on top initially with a two-run homer in the first. It was his third tater of the series.

Billy Spottiswood (2-2) surrendered a couple runs in the bottom of the seventh as Flores walked and scored on a groundout to first from Jae-Hoon Ha. Matt Spencer doubled and brought home the go-ahead run on a Spottiswood wild pitch.

The BayBears return home on Wednesday night to play the Jackson Generals at 5:05 p.m. in a doubleheader. Left-hander Patrick Corbin (2-2) will start the opener for the BayBears while righty Bryan Henry (3-1) will get the nod in the nightcap. For tickets, please call (251) 479-BEAR or log on to www.mobilebaybears.com. You can also follow the BayBears all season long on Facebook and Twitter.