Shuckers Walk-Off Twice, Sweep Smokies

BILOXI, MS - The Tennessee Smokies (46-62) were swept by the Biloxi Shuckers (44-69) in their doubleheader Saturday night at MGM Park. The Shuckers hit a walk-off two-run home run to win game one 4-2. In game two, Biloxi walked with the bases loaded to win 1-0.

Christopher Morel’s first inning RBI single, scoring Nelson Velazquez, got the scoring started in game one. In the fourth, Morel scored on Bradlee Beesley’s RBI double to extend the Smokies lead.

Mitch Longo hit a solo home run off Samuel Reyes in the fifth to cut the Smokies lead in half. In the sixth, Longo’s two-out RBI single tied the game. In the bottom of the seventh, Chad Spanberger hit a walk-off two-run home run off Bryan King (L, 0-1) to win game one.

Anderson Espinoza struck out six over 3.2 scoreless innings in his game one start. Espinoza surrendered three hits and walked three.

Dakota Chalmers matched his career-high with 10 strikeouts over five scoreless innings in game two. Chalmers allowed just one hit and walked three.

The Smokies best chances to score in game two came in the second and fifth. Morel tripled leading off the second but was thrown out at the plate on a bunt attempt. Caleb Knight and Reivaj Garcia both reached to open up the fifth. Knight was thrown out at third on a bunt attempt, then Luis Vazquez hit into a double play to end the inning.

Gabriel Garcia led off the seventh inning with a double off Eury Ramos (L, 0-2). After a sacrifice bunt moved the winning run to third, Ramos got Cam Devanney to fly out for the second out. Ramos then walked Gabe Holt to extend the inning. Burl Carraway then came on and walked Korry Howell to load the bases before walking Thomas Dillard to force in the winning run.

Morel finished the day 3-for-6 with a triple and an RBI. Velazquez and Grayson Byrd both finished the day 2-for-6.

The Smokies and Shuckers will play their final game of the season on Sunday afternoon at MGM Park. First pitch between Joe Nahas (0-3, 7.59) and Jesus Castillo (4-9, 5.06) is scheduled for 2:05 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.