
The Suns defeated the Smokies 8-5 at the Baseball Grounds to take three of five games in the series. Jacksonville won all three series against Tennessee during the season. Photo Courtesy: Tennessee Smokies
By Steve Kolbe
The Suns defeated the Smokies 8-5 at the Baseball Grounds to take three of five games in the series. Jacksonville won all three series against Tennessee during the season. Photo Courtesy: Tennessee Smokies
By Steve Kolbe
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
The Jackonville Suns walked eight times, including five times in the seventh inning, in a 6-4 win over the Smokies. Four of the Suns runs in the game were scored by batters who were issued a base on balls. Photo Courtesy: Tennessee Smokies
By Steve Kolbe
The Jacksonville Suns used a combination of power and patience at the plate to even their series against the Tennessee Smokies, with a 6-4 win at the Baseball Grounds on Friday night. The Suns improved to 10-9 at home in the second half of the season.
Donnie Webb gave the Suns a 1-0 lead in the second inning, when he launched a solo home run over the right-center field fence off of Smokies starting pitcher Ty’Relle Harris. Webb has hit three of his seven home runs this season against Tennessee pitching, with all three of the round trippers at the Baseball Grounds. Kyle Skipworth and Donnie Webb have accounted for the last seven Suns homers in the last 10 games.
The Suns added another run in the second when Jose Alvarez walked and Danny Pertusati singled to put runners on first and second. Chris Gutierrez then singled to center to drive in Alvarez to increase the lead to 2-0. Suns pitchers have now scored nine runs this season.
Jacksonville doubled the lead in the third inning. Kyle Skipworth singled and went to second on a wild pitch, and that was followed by a walk to Donnie Webb. With two outs, Suns second baseman Alfredo Lopez hit a ground ball to Justin Bour at first, with Skipworth scoring to make the score 3-0. With the bases loaded, Danny Pertusati was hit by a pitch forcing in Webb for a 4-0 Suns advantage.
The Smokies scored twice in the fourth to cut the lead to 4-2. Junior Lake drove in a run with a double, and Juan Apodaca plated a run with a sacrifice fly. Lake has nine hits in the series, including three home runs and four doubles. He has driven in nine runs and scored six times.
Tennessee inched closer in the seventh when Greg Rohan hit a towering solo home run to left field off of Alvarez, and the Suns lead was 4-3. Rohan has hit three of the Smokies nine home runs in the series.
In the home half of the seventh, Smokies relievers Zach Rosscup and Kevin Rhoderick combined to walk five Suns batters, with Josh Schmidt and Alfredo Lopez each forcing in a run with a base on balls to make the score 6-3. The Suns sent eight men to the plate and scored two runs in the inning without the benefit of a hit. The Smokies added a run in the eighth when Lake drove in his second run of the night and the score was 6-4 Suns, but that’s as close as Tennessee would get. The Suns have won six of their last nine home games.
Chris Gutierrez was the only Suns player with two hits in the game. Alfredo Lopez went 0-for-3 but drove in two runs in his Double-A debut. Jose Alvarez reached base twice and scored a run. Josh Schmidt walked to drive in a run in the seventh inning. He has two of the Suns RBI’s by pitchers this season.
Greg Rohan, Juan Apodaca, and Junior Lake each collected two hits for the Smokies. Lake has hit safely in 11 straight games and is 9-for-19 over the last four games. Rohan has hit three home runs in the series against the Suns.
Jose Alvarez (4-5) allowed three runs on six hits in his six innings of work. Two of his four wins this season have been against the Smokies, and Alvarez has given up just three runs in 14 innings in those outings. A.J. Ramos pitched the ninth for his 15th save of the season. Ramos has earned a save in nine of the Suns last 12 victories. Five of his 15 saves this season have been against Tennessee.
The Suns will look to win the series Saturday with the first pitch slated for 6:05 p.m. from the Baseball Grounds. After earning Southern League Pitcher of the Week honors, lefty Graham Taylor (5-8, 4.23) will take the hill for Jacksonville. RHP Nick Struck (11-9, 3.52) will start his 22nd game of the season for Tennessee. Struck leads the league in wins (11) and starts (21), and ranks 7th in ERA (3.52). He is 0-4 against the Jackson Generals and 11-5 against the rest of the league.
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Kyle Skipworth(above)collected three extra-base hits, including his 12th home run of the season, in the Suns 6-4 victory over the Tennessee Smokies. Photo Courtesy: Jacksonville Suns
By Steve Kolbe
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Tennessee shortstop Junior Lake hit a pair of two-run home runs in the Smokies 7-5 win over the Jacksonville Suns July 25, 2012 at the Baseball Grounds. Photo Courtesy: Tennessee Smokies
By Steve Kolbe
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Tennessee third baseman Greg Rohan(above)hits one of the Smokies three home runs in a 9-2 win over the Jacksonville Suns July 24, 2012. Photo Courtesy: Tennessee Smokies
By Steve Kolbe
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Third baseman Justin Bour(above)drove in two runs in the Smokies 5-1 win in the first game of a double header against the Jacksonville Suns at Smokies Park. Photo Courtesy: Tennessee Smokies
By Steve Kolbe
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Inclement weather and unplayable field conditions at Smokies Park postponed the Suns game against the Smokies on Thursday night. Photo Courtesy: Tennessee Smokies
By Steve Kolbe
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Suns starter Zack Neal(4-6)allowed two runs on seven hits over seven innings. The only runs he allowed were on a two-run home run by Greg Rohan(above)in the first inning. Photo Courtesy: Tennessee Smokies
By Steve Kolbe
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
The Suns take two from the Tennessee Smokies, 11-3 and 10-3, on a stormy day June 25, 2012 at the Baseball Grounds. Photo Courtesy: Jacksonville Suns
By Steve Kolbe
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Jacksonville center fielder Donnie Webb paced the offense with a two-run home run, a triple, and three RBI in the Suns 7-6 loss to the Tennessee Smokies. Photo Courtesy: Jackonville Suns
By Steve Kolbe
After a 30 minute rain delay, the Jacksonville Suns fell behind early on Saturday night, and a ninth inning comeback fell just short in a 7-6 loss to the Tennessee Smokies at the Baseball Grounds.
The Suns took the lead in the second inning when Kyle Skipworth and Curt Smith each hit solo home runs to give Jacksonville a 2-0 advantage. The Suns have started the scoring in all three games of the series against the Smokies, but have lost two of three contests.
Tennessee put together a big inning in the top of third, sending nine men to the plate against Suns starter Bryan Evans. Pitcher Jeff Antigua led off the inning with a walk, and Logan Watkins doubled behind him to put runners on second and third. Jae-Hoon Ha then singled to left field, driving in Antigua to trim the Suns lead to 2-1. With one out, Justin Bour increased his league-leading RBI total to 54, when he hit a sacrifice fly to center with Watkins hustling home from third to tie the game 2-2.
With one on and two outs, Nelsen Perez hit a two-run home run into the right field stands to put the Smokies on top 4-2. It was his first home run with Tennessee after being promoted from High-A Daytona three days earlier, where he ranked third in the Florida State League in round trippers. The inning continued when Matt Cerda singled with two outs, and that brought Mike Burgess to the plate. Burgess then belted a two-run home run to center field to increase the lead to 6-2. The home run by Burgess is the longest hit at the Baseball Grounds this season. In the inning, the Smokies scored six runs on five hits. It’s the seventh time this season that the Suns have allowed five or more runs in an inning.
The Smokies added a run in the seventh on a RBI single by Jae-Hoon Ha to make the score 7-2. The Suns began their comeback attempt in the bottom half of the seventh, when pinch hitter Paul Gran singled and scored on Donnie Webb’s sixth triple of the season to make the score 7-3.
In the home half of the ninth, reliever Kevin Rhoderick struck out Jeff Dominguez for the first out. After Paul Gran was hit by a pitch for the 12th time this season, Donnie Webb blasted a two-run home run into the right field seats to cut the lead to 7-5. Webb has hit a home run in two straight games, both to right field.
Rhoderick struck out Chris Gutierrez for the second out of the inning, but Jake Smolinski scratched out an infield single, and stole second base. Shawn Bowman then drove in Smolinski with a single to left, and the Suns were down 7-6. With a runner on first, two outs, and the Suns down by just a run, the stage was set for high drama. The Smokies made the call to the bullpen and summoned their closer Frank Batista. In a showdown between two Southern League All-Stars, catcher Kyle Skipworth jumped on the first pitch that he saw from Batista, and nearly gave the Suns a walk-off win by sending a fly ball deep to left field. With the crowd and the Suns dugout on their feet, left fielder Nelson Perez raced back and made the catch on the warning track, and the Suns comeback fell just a few feet short. The Suns have scored three runs in the ninth inning four times this season, but Saturday’s loss is the first time that they have come up short of a win.
Five of the 18 combined hits in the game were home runs. Jacksonville belted three homers in a game for the first time this season, and have hit five home runs in the series. For the Suns, Donnie Webb paced the offense going 2-for-5 with a home run, triple, and three RBI. Webb is tied for third in the Southern League with six triples. Logan Watkins, Justin Bour, and Jae-Hoon Ha each collected two hits for the Smokies. Watkins tripled on the first pitch of the game from Bryan Evans.
Suns starter Bryan Evans (2-5) entered the game with a 2.90 ERA, third lowest in the league. He pitched four innings, allowing six runs on seven hits. Evans had allowed only 12 runs in his first eight games at the Baseball Grounds. Casey Weathers (3-1) picked up the win by allowing one hit over two innings of work for the Smokies. Frank Batista, who finished second in the Florida State League with 26 saves last season with Daytona, recorded the final out to earn his 11th save of the season.
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News