Saturday night’s match-up between the Chattanooga Lookouts and Birmingham Barons was not a pretty one, as both teams combined to walk 17 batters, but the Lookouts proved to be more opportunistic in an 11-7 victory at AT&T Field.
Both teams scored twice in the first inning. Andy Wilkins did the damage for the Barons by hitting a two-RBI double, while RBI singles from C.J. Retherford and J.T. Wise accounted for the Lookouts’ runs.
The Lookouts exploded for six runs in the second inning. After five straight walks to begin the inning, Blake Smith hit a two-RBI single and Wise followed with a two-RBI double to put the score at 8-2.
The Barons crept their way back into the game by scoring two in third, highlighted by a Carlos Sanchez’s two-RBI double, and two more runs in the sixth inning on a Sanchez single.
Hanging onto a one-run lead, the Lookouts added three insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh. With the bases loaded, Jake Lemmerman drew a walk to score Blake Smith, while Matt Wallach and Rafael Ynoa followed by with run-scoring sacrifice flies to increase the lead to 11-7.
Chattanooga’s bullpen was able to shut down the Barons for the remainder of the game to preserve the win.
Ethan Martin (8-6) was credited with the win. In five innings of work, he yielded five runs (four earned) on five hits and four walks, while striking out six.
On Sunday the Lookouts will hit the road to play a five-game series against the Huntsville Stars. Chattanooga will be back in town on Aug. 3 to play a five-game homestand against the Mississippi Braves.