Tennessee Survives Late Comeback to Win Game Two in Rocket City

Written by Richie Juliano

MADISON, AL- The Smokies drew first blood for the second consecutive game with a solo-home run from Haydn McGeary, which was his first Double-A home run in just his second game as a Smokie. The Rocket City Trash Pandas responded with a home run of their own in the bottom of the third with a 2-run home run for Orlando martinez.

The ballgame seemed to be a trend of home runs as Owen Caissie recorded his sixth home run of the season on a towering blast to tie the game at 2.

In the fourth inning, Smokies starter Walker Powell walked the go-ahead run with the bases loaded after a throwing error to start the inning, followed by a single and two walks to put Rocket City ahead 3-2.

The Smokies tied the game up in the fifth, when Pete Crow-armstrong zipped home to score on a wild pitch. On the next pitch in the fifth inning, Nelson Maldonado knocked in two runs on a single to take a 5-3 lead. In the next at-bat, BJ Murray drilled a line drive into center field to score Maldonado and double the lead to 6-3.

Murray produced yet again in the seventh inning on a 2-out base hit to score Chase Strumpf and add some insurance with a 7-3 lead heading into the seventh inning stretch.

The Smokies left the bases loaded in the ninth inning, and the Trash Pandas fed off the momentum with a 3-run home run by Kyren Paris to make it a 7-6 game in the ninth inning. Smokies reliever Hunter Bigge struckout Jeremiah Jackson to hold on to a tight 7-6 victory in game two to take sole possession of first place in the Southern League North.

Game three of the series will be played tomorrow night at 7:35 ET, and you can tune in on the Smokies baseball radio network by clicking this link: https://www.milb.com/tennessee/fans/audio-listen-live