Mujica Battles Rain, Silences Smokies, 2-0

KODAK, Ten. - The Biscuits (58-46) won another game over the Tennessee Smokies (53-50) on Friday night, taking a fourth-straight meeting from their North Division rivals at Smokies Stadium by a score of 2-0. Montgomery is now on a season-high five-game winning streak for the fourth time this season, 12 games above .500 for the first time all year, and currently lead the Jackson Generals by four games in the Wild Card standings.
Rain fell intermittently-but heavily-throughout most of the game, but it didn't stop Biscuits starter José Mujica (9-7) from tossing six innings of scoreless, one-hit ball in his first victory in three starts in Kodak. The 21-year-old right-hander faced the minimum through the first five innings, allowing only a single to Ian Rice and a walk to Daniel Spingola over that span. The streak was finally disrupted in the sixth when Mujica retired the first two batters, but then hit Erick Castillo before getting Trey Martin to hit into an inning-ending fielder's choice.
The Biscuits were kept off the scoreboard through the first three innings by Tennessee starter Zach Hedges (7-7), but finally cracked the right-hander in the fourth thanks to a one-out single by Cade Gotta and a walk by Michael Russell. After Mac James flew out for the second out, Nick Ciuffo stepped up and socked a base hit into right field to score Gotta and put Montgomery up, 1-0. Ciuffo is now on an eight-game hitting streak.
Moments later, the Biscuits executed a double-steal that saw Ciuffo end up at second on a delayed attempt, and Russell taking home on an errant throw by Smokies shortstop, Carlos Penalver. It was 2-0, Biscuits, and that's all they would need.
In the top of the seventh, Mac James would hit a single into left, and in so doing became the seventh Biscuits this season to tally a hitting streak of 10 games or more. Ciuffo would single in the subsequent at-bat, and after a failed sac bunt by Andrew Velazquez led to James being forced out at third, Riley Unroe would single before the skies opened up and brought the tarp on the field for good.
That led to a two hour and 38-minute rain delay, and after play finally resumed, Craig Brooks got out of the jam for Tennessee, and Hunter Adkins worked around some traffic for the Biscuits in the seventh and eighth before Ian Giabut closed things out in the ninth for his sixth save of the year.
The Biscuits will try to sweep the Smokies for the first time ever at Smokies Stadium on Saturday when Edwin Fierro (5-2) does battle with Adbert Alzolay (0-1) in the series finale at 6:00 PM CT.