Maldonado's Seventh Inning Blast the Difference in Sunday Win

SEVIERVILLE, TN - The Tennessee Smokies (27-35) earned a 6-3 win over the Mississippi Braves (40-26) Sunday afternoon at Smokies Stadium. Nelson Maldonado broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning with a 406-foot, three-run home run to left field to put the Smokies up for good.

The Braves took a first inning lead as Justin Dean singled, stole second and scored on a Shea Langeliers’ RBI double to put Mississippi ahead 1-0. Jalen Miller hit a solo home run with two outs in the fifth off RHP Dakota Chalmers to extend the M-Braves lead to 2-0. Chalmers struck out four and allowed two runs on four hits in 4.2 innings.

The Smokies answered in the bottom of the fifth inning as Carlos Sepulveda singled and Levi Jordan hit a game-tying two-run home run to right field.

Mississippi reclaimed the lead in the top half of the sixth inning as Trey Harris singled on a slow chopper up the middle, moved to second on a walk, and scored on Langeliers’ RBI single to left field to put the Braves ahead 3-2.

The Smokies answered again in the bottom half. This time courtesy of a Brennen Davis opposite field home run that tied the game at 3-3.

The Smokies would take their first lead in the seventh inning. With two-on and one-out, Maldonado jumped on the first pitch from RHP Emmanuel Ramirez (L, 2-1) and hit a game-winning three-run home run to put the Smokies in front 6-3.

Juan Gamez (W, 3-0) earned the win in relief, retiring all five batters he faced. RHP Cayne Ueckert (SV, 5) closed out the game with a four-out save. Jordan’s home run was his third, Davis’ homer was his sixth, and Maldonado’s was his fourth. Carlos Sepulveda and Tim Susnara both finished with two hits in the win.

The Smokies will head down to Madison, AL to begin a six game series with the Rocket City Trash Pandas at Toyota Field on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:35 PM ET. Fans can hear all Smokies games by going to https://www.milb.com/tennessee/fans/audio-listen-live.

ABOUT THE TENNESSEE SMOKIES

The Tennessee Smokies are the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. Members of the eight-team Double-A South 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.v