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Wild Smokies Drop Second Straight at Jacksonville, 6-4

July 27, 2012 - Southern League (SL) Tennessee Smokies

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A trio of bases-loaded free passes helped the Jacksonville Suns edge the Tennessee Smokies, 6-4, on Friday night at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, evening the five-game series at two games apiece.

In the loss, shortstop Junior Lake extended his hitting streak to 11 games as he went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles to record his sixth straight multi-hit outing. Matt Szczur, who Baseball America ranks as the Cubs third-best prospect, went 0-for-4 while batting leadoff and playing center field in his Double-A debut after being promoted from High-A Daytona earlier in the day.

With Ty'Relle Harris making his second start of the season, the Suns jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. In the second inning, Donnie Webb lifted a solo home run to center to open the scoring before Chris Gutierrez made it 2-0 with an RBI single. Jacksonville tacked on two more runs in the third on an RBI fielders' choice off the bat of Alfredo Lopez and a bases-loaded hit by pitch.

The Smokies broke through in the top of the fourth inning. After Logan Watkins led off with a single, Lake laced an RBI double to left to make it a 4-1 game. Later in the frame, a Juan Apodaca sacrifice fly cut Tennessee's deficit to 4-2. That score held until Greg Rohan led off the seventh inning with a home run - his third long ball in the past four games - to pull the Smokies within one, 4-3.

Reliever Zac Rosscup entered in the fourth inning for Tennessee and settled down the first 10 batters he faced to keep the Smokies within striking distance. The southpaw hit a wall in the bottom of the seventh, though, walking a pair of batters before departing with two outs. Kevin Rhoderick entered and proceeded to walk the first three batters he faced, forcing in two more runs to extend Jacksonville's lead to 6-3. Smokies pitchers doled out five free passes in the frame.

In the top of the eighth inning, Lake once again doubled home Watkins to make it a 6-4 game, capping the scoring.

Harris (0-2) suffered the loss after yielding four runs on six hits over 2.2 innings. Suns starter Jose Alvarez (4-5) allowed three runs in six innings to earn the victory while A.J. Ramos fired a scoreless ninth inning to secure his 15th save of the season.

The Smokies and Suns conclude their five-game series on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. when Tennessee sends right-hander Nick Struck (11-9, 3.52 ERA) to the mound against Jacksonville southpaw Graham Taylor (5-8, 4.23 ERA) at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

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Southern League Stories from July 27, 2012


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