Tag Archives: Pedro Baez
Skipworth Hits For Cycle; Suns Win Slugfest 13-10
Jacksonville Suns catcher Kyle Skipworth hit for the cycle including a grand slam against the Chattanooga Lookouts May 26, 2012 at AT&T Field. Photo Courtesy: MiLB.com
Suns catcher Kyle Skipworth hit for the cycle to lead the Suns past the Lookouts 13-10 in a slugfest at AT&T Field in Chattanooga on Saturday night. The win snapped the Suns four game slide, and also ended Chattanooga's six game win streak.
The scheduled starter for the Lookouts Nathan Eovaldi didn't take the mound as expected. Instead, right-hander Luis Vasquez was pressed into service and started a game for the first time this season. The Suns came out swinging against Vasquez and sent nine men to the plate in the first inning.
Leadoff man Danny Black doubled to right field to start the game, and Jake Smolinski drove in Black with a RBI single to put the Suns in front 1-0 before many fans had even taken their seats. With two outs, Kyle Skipworth hit a ground rule double to put runners on second and third and bring Kyle Jensen to the plate. Jensen capped the inning by smashing his sixth home run of the season, a three-run blast to right-center field for a 4-0 Suns advantage. The Suns improved their record to 11-2 when scoring a run in the first inning. Jensen and Skipworth share the team lead with six round-tippers each.
In the second, Jacksonville added another run when Danny Black led off for the second straight inning, this time reaching base on an error by the pitcher. After Paul Gran bunted his way on and Jake Smolinski was hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded with no outs. Shawn Bowman then grounded into a force out, with Black thrown out at the plate. With one out, Kyle Skipworth's hit a sacrifice fly to right field with Gran tagging from third to increase the lead to 5-0.
The Lookouts scored their first run of the night against Suns starter Matthew Neil in the home half of the second, when Travis Denker led off the inning with his third home run of the season to cut the lead to 5-1. The Lookouts have hit 10 home runs this season against the Suns, their most against any club.
Having just arrived at the ballpark prior to the game, reliever Eammon Portice took over on the hill for Vasquez in the third, and had similar results. The Suns scored to make it 6-1 when Matthew Neil walked with two outs, and Danny Black drove him in with a single to right field. Black reached base in each of the first three innings.
In the fourth, Jake Smolinski walked to lead off the inning, and Shawn Bowman singled behind him. With two on and no outs, Skipworth drove in his second run of the night with a single. Later in the inning, Russell Mitchell drove in his tenth run of the year, with Bowman coming in to score on a ground out and the Suns had built an 8-1 advantage.
The Lookouts came to life in the bottom of the fourth against Neil. Singles by Travis Denker and Brahiam Maldonado, and a walk to Pedro Baez loaded the bases with one out. Jake Lemmerman then drove in the first run of the inning, when Bowman committed an error on a grounder hit in his direction with Baez scoring to make the score 8-2 Suns. Matt Wallach brought the Lookouts closer with a base-clearing double into the right field corner, and at the end of four innings Jacksonville led 8-5.
Before the fifth inning began, the Lookouts made a call to the bullpen and summoned another newcomer, Bret Montgomery. After striking out the first batter of the inning, five straight Suns hitters would reach base against Montgomery. Danny Black hit his second double of the night, Paul Gran scratched out an infield single, and Jake Smolinski drove in Black with a single. With the score 9-5 Suns, Shawn Bowman walked on four pitches to load the bases and set the stage for Kyle Skipworth. With one mighty swing, Skipworth sent the ball sailing high into the Chattanooga night and over the right field fence for the Suns first grand slam of the season. By the end of the inning, the Suns had scored five runs on four hits to expand the lead to 13-5. Jacksonville scored runs in each of the first five innings in the game. During their four game losing streak, the Suns had plated a total of only nine runs.
Chattanooga chipped away by scoring three runs in the bottom half of the fifth. Luis Nunez singled to lead off the inning, and scored on Travis Denker's double to straightaway center. The inning was highlighted by a no-doubt-about-it two-run home run to left field off the bat of Pedro Baez, and the score was 13-8. Baez has hit a two-run homer in two straight games, and he now has 26 runs batted in. Suns relief pitcher Zach Neal took over for Matthew Neil and struck out Jake Lemmerman for the final out of the inning.
The Lookouts didn't go away quietly, and scored two more runs in the seventh. J.T. Wise single to left, and Denker doubled behind him. Baez cashed in a run with a ground out with Wise scoring and Denker moving to third on the play. With two outs, Lemmerman singled to drive in Denker to cut the lead to 13-10, but that's as close as Chattanooga would get.
The 13 runs are the most that the Suns have scored in a game this season. In the first eight games of the season series against the Lookouts, Jacksonville had scored a total of 26 runs.
During the 2011 campaign the Suns hit four grand slams, third-most in the Southern League. Alex Romero, Luke Montz, Kevin Mattison, and Jake Smolinski each hit one.
For the Suns, Kyle Skipworth finished 4-for-4 and hit for the cycle. He doubled in the first, singled in the third, hit his grand slam in the fifth, and tripled in the seventh. Skipworth drove in six runs and scored twice. Danny Black went 3-for-6, drove in a run, and scored two others. Jake Smolinski was 2-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored. Paul Gran had two hits and scored twice.
For the Lookouts, Travis Denker went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a home run. He drove in two runs and scored four times. Nick Buss, Brahiam Maldonado, and Matt Wallach each finished with two hits in the losing cause.
Matthew Neil pitched four and two-thirds innings in his second start for the Suns. He allowed eight runs on 10 hits and did not figure in the decision. Zach Neal tossed two and a-third innings to earn his third win of the season. Evan Reed struck out two of the three batters he faced in a flawless ninth to record his ninth save.
In the spot start, Luis Vasquez allowed five runs on five hits in the first two innings to fall to 1-2. The Suns are 2-7 this season against the Lookouts, with both of the wins coming against Vasquez. The 13 runs are the most that the Lookouts have surrendered in a game this season.
The series finale is set for Sunday night from AT&T Field with the first pitch scheduled for 6:15 p.m. The Suns will send RHP Omar Poveda (3-2, 4.54) to the mound for his ninth start of the season. Jacksonville will try to hand RHP Ethan Martin (5-0, 3.28) his first loss of the year. Martin is one of only two starting pitchers in the Southern League with a perfect record.
Tagged as AT&T Field, Chattanooga Lookouts, Danny Black, Evan Reed, Jacksonville Suns, Jake Smolinski, Kyle Jensen, Kyle Skipworth, Los Angeles Dodgers, Luis Vasquez, Major League Baseball, Matt Wallach, Matthew Neil, Miami Marlins, Milb.com, Nick Buss, Paul Gran, Pedro Baez, Russell Mitchell, Southern League, Steve Kolbe, Travis Denker, Zach Neal
Suns Fall Short In Extra Innings
Lookouts right fielder Blake Smith hit a solo home run in the third inning off of Suns starter Graham Taylor. Smith leads Chattanooga with seven home runs and 28 runs batted in. Photo Courtesy: Chattanooga Lookouts
The Jacksonville Suns struck out a season-high 17 times and ended up on the wrong side of a 14-inning affair on Friday night, with the Lookouts winning 5-4 at AT&T Field in Chattanooga. The Suns lost in extra innings for the first time this season and are now 2-1 when working overtime, with all three of the games on the road. The Lookouts have gone into extra innings five times in their last 11 games. Chattanooga is now 3-3 in extra-inning games this season.
The Suns scored the first run of the game in the second inning against Lookouts starter Chris Withrow, when Shawn Bowman walked to lead off the inning and later scored on a single by Russell Mitchell to give Jacksonville a 1-0 advantage. Mitchell has driven in nine runs this season.
The Lookouts used the long ball to take the lead in the bottom half of the second against Suns starter Graham Taylor. After Brahiam Maldonado led off the home half of the inning with a single, Pedro Baez smashed his second home run of the season over the left field fence, a two-run blast that put the Lookouts in front 2-1.
In the third inning, the Lookouts flexed their muscle again when Blake Smith hit a solo home run to right field off of Taylor to increase the lead to 3-1. Taylor has given up a team-high seven home runs this season.
Jacksonville cut into the lead in the fourth when Shawn Bowman led off inning by reaching base again, this time with a single. Playing in his second straight game, catcher Jake Jefferies drove in Bowman with his second double of the year, and the Suns trailed 3-2.
In the fifth, the Suns reclaimed the lead when Paul Gran walked, and Jake Smolinski reached on an error by shortstop Jake Lemmerman. With two on and one out, Bowman continued his strong night at the plate when he doubled into the gap in right-center field, with Gran scoring from second and Smolinski hustling around from first to give the Suns a 4-3 edge. That would be the last run of the night. After scoring four runs on four hits in the first five innings, the Suns had just three hits in the games final nine innings.
In the home half of the seventh, Rafael Ynoa led off the inning with his first triple of the season. He wasn't on base for long, with Nick Buss driving him in with a single on a two strike pitch to tie the game 4-4. Ynoa would later leave the game after he was injured on a head first slide into first base.
In the fourteenth inning, lead off hitter Nick Buss was hit by a Josh Schmidt pitch and Luis Nunez singled to left. After a ground out by J.T. Wise, the Suns walked Blake Smith intentionally to load the bases and take their chances with the pitcher, Blake Johnson. With Chattanooga out of position players, Johnson was forced to grab a bat and take a trip to the plate. With the Suns infield in, Johnson helped his own cause with his first hit of the season, sending a grounder back up the middle for the game-winning RBI to give the Lookouts a 5-4 victory. In the series Lookouts pitchers have five hits against the Suns, with at least one hit in every game.
This season, 20 of Jacksonville's first 48 games have been decided by a single run, with the Suns 10-10 in those games. The Suns won eight of their first 12 one-run games this year, but have won just two of the last eight games decided by the smallest of margins.
Suns starter Graham Taylor took the mound at 7:20 p.m. for his tenth start of the season. He allowed four runs on 10 hits over six innings and was long gone when the game ended four hours and nine minutes later. Relievers Kyle Kaminska, A.J. Ramos, and Bobby Bramhall combined to pitch seven scoreless innings. Josh Schmidt allowed two hits and the game-winning run the 14th inning to fall to 1-3 on the season.
Chris Withrow started the game for the Lookouts, and allowed four runs on four hits over five innings. Before the night was over, Lookouts manager Carlos Subero had made six calls to the bullpen. In the end, Blake Johnson pitched two hitless innings to earn the win and improve to 2-3. Both teams combined to use a dozen pitchers. For the Lookouts, only Luis Vasquez and Allen Webster were left in the bullpen at the end of the night. Zach Neal, Wade Korpi, and Evan Reed were the only Suns hurlers not to have their names called.
Jacksonville hitters struck out a season-high 17 times on Friday. In five of the last eight games, Suns batters have struck out at least 11 times. Shawn Bowman went 3-for-4, drove in two of the Suns four runs and scored twice. Jake Jefferies, Russell Mitchell, Danny Black, and Paul Gran each had one hit.
The Lookouts tied a season-high with 16 hits with 11 players with at least one hit on the night. Pedro Baez, Luis Nunez, Blake Smith, Jake Lemmerman, and Chris Withrow each finished with two hits apiece.
Chattanooga has taken the first three games of the series, and won a season-high six straight games. For the second time in the series the Suns scored the first run but ended up on the losing end. Jacksonville is now 17-4 this season when scoring the first run of the game. The Suns have been outscored 19-9 during their four game losing streak, and overall the Suns have just five wins in 21 games and have fallen into fifth place in the South Division. The Lookouts increased their season-high winning streak to six games.
Game four of the series is Saturday night with the first pitch slated for 7:15 p.m. from AT&T field in Chattanooga, Tennessee. RHP Matthew Neil (0-0, 3.60) will make his second start of the season for the Suns. Neil made his double-A debut May 20 against Pensacola, allowing two runs on five hits over five innings and did not figure in the decision. The Lookouts will send RHP Nathon Eovaldi (2-2, 3.18) to the mound for his ninth start of the season.
Tagged as AT&T Field, Blake Johnson, Chattanooga Lookouts, Chris Withrow, Graham Taylor, Jacksonville Suns, Jake Jefferies, Josh Schmidt, Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Baseball, Miami Marlins, Milb.com, Nick Buss, Pedro Baez, Russell Mitchell, Shawn Bowman, Southern League, Steve Kolbe