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Tennessee Smokies

Dent's Dingers Drive Smokies to Dramatic 5-3 Victory over Suns

August 29, 2015 - Southern League (SL1)
Tennessee Smokies News Release


SEVIERVILLE - Tennessee shortstop Ryan Dent collected four hits in four at bats with two home runs, including what turned out to be the game-winning longball in the eighth, and drove in four RBI after starter Pierce Johnson fired seven strong innings as the Smokies came back to stun the Jacksonville Suns with a 5-3 victory in front of 6,813 fans on Saturday night at Smokies Stadium.

With the victory, Tennessee improves to two games above the .500 mark in the second half at 32-30 while also raising their 2015 overall mark to 71-60. The defeat drops the Suns to 24-38 since the midpoint of the year, along with a 53-78 overall clip.

After the Suns snagged a 3-2 advantage with a two-run top of the eighth, the Smokies stormed back thanks to Dent's dramatic roundtripper. 1B Dan Vogelbach first reached on a walk and 2B Stephen Bruno crushed a double off the left field field with two outs to extend the inning and set the scene for Dent. Ahead in the count 2-1, Dent slammed a towering home run into the Calhoun's At The Yard deck in left field to surge Tennessee back ahead for good.

It was a career night for Dent, who smashed two homers in a game for just the second time in his professional career since being selected by the Boston Red Sox during the 2007 MLB Draft. The only other occasion came on June 19, 2008 while Dent was playing for the Short-Season Lowell Spinners.

Smokies closer P.J. Francescon (1.0 IP) would finish the job from there by firing a perfect ninth to notch his 22nd save of the season, which ranks second in the Southern League. Tennessee relief man Starling Peralta (0.1 IP) earned his third victory of the year, while Suns reliever Tyler Higgins (0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER) suffered the blown save and loss.

Johnson (7.0 IP, 5 H, R, ER, 3 BB, 8 SO) turned in another solid outing for the Tennessee rotation, notching his eighth quality start over 15 total outings this season. The right-hander allowed a lone earned run on five hits in seven innings of work, adding eight punchouts, though he ultimately did not factor in the decision. Suns starter Scott Lyman (6.0 Ip, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) joined Johnson in not receiving a decision despite a quality start.

The Suns struck first, plating an early tally in the opening frame. CF Kenny Wilson led off the game with a ground-rule double to right-center, and then took third on a wild pitch, before LF Matt Juengel came through with a clutch two-out single to left, plating WIlson while the trailing runner was thrown out by Smokies LF Jacob Hannemann to keep it a one-run ballgame.

Tennessee would counter right back an inning later, with Johnson helping his own cause. After Bruno smashed a double to straightaway center, Dent lined a soft line drive to left to move Bruno to third, before Johnson dropped down a sacrifice safety squeeze bunt that allowed Bruno to come plateward and draw the game even at 1-1.

Two innings later, Dent broke the tie with his first longball of the evening. With one out, the shortstop crushed a solo blast into the Calhoun's At The Yard deck, his third big fly of the year with Tennessee, to give the Smokies a 2-1 advantage in the fourth inning.

That margin would remain the same until the eighth, when Jacksonville swayed the game back in their favor with a pair of scores. Wilson started the rally with a double to right to represent the tying run, and was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, before 2B David Adams' walk brought up 1B Viosergy Rosa, who tied the contest with an RBI single to right. Later on the inning, SS Elliot Soto, who began the year with the Smokies and then was acquired by the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline, drew a bases-loaded walk to push Jacksonville ahead 3-2 before Tennessee mounted the comeback rally.

Dent (4-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI) paced the Smokies offense with his four base knocks, while Almora (2-3, BB) and Bruno (2-4, 2 R, 2 2B) also recorded multi-hit efforts. Wilson (2-5, 2 R, 2 2B) and Juengel (2-4, RBI), meanwhile, each collected two hits apiece for Jacksonville in the defeat.

Almora extended his hit streak to ten games with his multi-hit contest, recording a (15-42) along with five runs, two doubles, one homer and seven RBI since the stretch began on August 21. The 21-year-old has also enjoyed a spectacular month of August, compiling a .350 average (41-117) with 20 runs, 13 doubles, one homer and 14 RBI in 29 contests in August, tallying at least one knock in all but three of those matchups.

The Tennessee offense also continue their hot pace at the plate, and have combined for a .290 average (283-976), averaging 5.2 runs per game and 9.8 hits per contest. Coming into tonight, Tennessee had ranked first in the Southern League and third among all Double-A clubs in batting average at .288.

Johnson's strong outing continued the Smokies rotation strong run, combining for a 0.97 ERA (4 ER in 37.0 IP), yielding no more than one earned run over their last six starts. Over their previous eight outings, Tennessee starters had combined for a 7.43 ERA (33 ER in 40.0 IP).

The Smokies and Suns are slated to face off in the middle game of their five-game set on Sunday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Tennessee is expected to give the ball to RHP Felix Pena (5-8, 3.97), while Jacksonville is anticipated to send LHP Jarlin Garcia (0-2, 5.84) to toe the rubber.

Fans will want to arrive early, as the first 1,000 guests through the gates will receive a Smokies pennant courtesy of U.S. Cellular. Smokies players and coaches will also be wearing special Smoky Mountain Service Dog jerseys that will be auctioned and raffled off that evening to benefit that Smoky Mountain Service Dogs organization. It's also the final U.S. Cellular Family FUNday of the year, with families able to take advantage of a special deal that includes four tickets, four meal vouchers and two wristbands to Homer the Hound's Playland for only $48 dollars.

Tickets for all remaining 2015 home contests at Smokies Stadium are still available and can be purchased online at smokiesbaseball.com, or by calling the Smokies Ticket Office at 865-286-2300.

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Southern League Stories from August 29, 2015


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