Smokies Comeback Attempt Falls Short Saturday Night

BIRMINGHAM, AL - The Tennessee Smokies (10-18) dropped their fourth straight game to the Birmingham Barons (20-9), losing 10-9 Saturday night at Regions Field. The Smokies trailed 10-4 after seven, but sent ten to the plate and scored five times in the eighth before leaving the tying runner at third in their loss.

Birmingham built a 3-0 lead after two innings, but by the top of the fourth, the Smokies tied the game. Erick Castillo led off the third with a solo home run, his first since August 20, 2018 to get the Smokies on the board. In the fourth, Christopher Morel walked with one out, moved to third on Brennen Davis’s double, and scored on Levi Jordan’s sacrifice fly. Davis scored the tying run on Nelson Maldonado’s two-out RBI single.

The Barons broke the game open with five runs in the fourth inning. Jameson Fisher’s sacrifice fly broke the 3-3 tie. Micker Adolfo hit a two-run double, then scored on Carlos Perez’s two-run home run to extend Birmingham’s lead to 8-3. The Smokies got a run back in the top of the fifth after Chase Strumpf’s RBI double, but in the bottom half, Romy Gonzalez hit a two-run home run to put the Barons up 10-4.

Grayson Byrd reached on an error to open up the eighth. After back-to-back outs, the Smokies drew four straight two-out walks. The walks by Maldonado and Castillo drove in runs and cut the Smokies deficit to 10-6. After a pitching change, Darius Hill hit a two-run single to make it a two-run game. Strumpf followed with an RBI single, moving Hill to third. Byrd came back up with the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but struck out looking to end the Smokies threat.

RHP Ben Leeper came on with the Smokies down 10-4 and shut down the Barons over 2.1 innings, after allowing a single he retired the next seven with five strikeouts. Hill and Strumpf both finished with two hits and two RBI, Maldonado and Castillo also had two RBI. Davis reached base three times, he singled, doubled, and walked in the loss.

The Smokies and Barons conclude their six game series Sunday evening at Regions Field. First pitch between RHP Javier Assad (0-2, 5.89) and RHP Kade McClure (0-2, 6.33) is scheduled for 5:00 PM ET. Fans can hear all Smokies games by going to https://www.milb.com/tennessee/fans/audio-listen-live.

The Smokies return home for a 12-game homestand beginning on Tuesday June 8 against the Rocket City Trash Pandas. Tickets are available and can be purchased online, over the phone, or by visiting the box office.

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.