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SL1 Knoxville Smokies

Smokies & Barons Split Twinbill, Montas Fires No-Hitter in Game 1

June 9, 2015 - Southern League (SL1)
Knoxville Smokies News Release


KODAK - Birmingham starting pitcher Frankie Montas fired a seven-inning no-hitter in a 1-0 game one victory over the Smokies, while Tennessee DH Kyle Schwarber smashed his 13th homer of the season as part of a five-run third inning in a 7-5 game two toppling of the Barons as the two clubs split their doubleheader on Tuesday evening at Smokies Stadium.

With the split, the Smokies moved their record in 2015 to a 32-27 mark, while the Barons remained one game below the .500 clip with a 29-30 record. As a result of the draw and Chattanooga's victory in their first game of their twinbill, the Smokies will remain at least two games behind the Lookouts for first place in the North Division standings with 11 games left.

Montas (7.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 SO) was spectacular in the day's first game, allowing only three baserunners, all via walks, while fanning three to record Birmingham's first no-hitter since Aaron Poreda tossed a five-inning no-no on May 4, 2009 against the Huntsville Stars. Montas faced just one batter above the minimum after erasing two of the three walks with a pair of inning-end double plays in the first and third frames.

The right-hander also got help from his defense, especially in the bottom of the sixth inning. 2B Stephen Bruno led off the frame by driving the first pitch of the at bat to center field, with CF Keenyn Walker charging in and making a sliding, feet-first grab to rob Bruno of a hit and preserve Montas' no-hitter.

It was the first individual seven-inning no-hitter thrown against the Smokies in nearly 24 years, with the last occurrence taking place on August 8, 1991 when Orlando Sun Rays hurler Mike Trombley blanked the Knoxville Blue Jays in a seven-innign contest. Tennessee was most recently held without a hit last season on August 28, 2014, when current Smokies reliever Andres Santiago no-hit the Smokies in a nine-inning game for the Chattanooga Lookouts.

The 22-year-old Montas got all the run support he neeed in the fourth courtesy of the longball. After RF Christian Marrereo kept the inning alive with a two-out single, DH Brian Fletcher crushed a 2-0 offering into the Calhoun's At The Yard deck in left field, with his second big fly of the year giving Birmingham a 2-0.

Smokies starter Jacob Turner (4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO) who joined Tennessee earlier in the day as part of a Major League Rehab Assignment, suffered the loss to fall to 0-1. Santiago (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 SO) followed Turner with three scoreless frames of support to maintain the two-run deficit, though the Smokies bats were unable to get anything going versus Montas.

All was quiet in the nightcap of the doubleheader until the third, when the Smokies erupted for a five-spot. 2B Stephen Bruno began the rally with the club's first hit of the evening, a single to center, and then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before 3B Bryant Flete drove in his first Double-A RBI with a line drive single to center field, pushing the Smokies ahead 1-0. Following Soto's base knock, CF Albert Almora Jr. slammed a two-run two-bagger off the left-center field wall to drive home both Flete and Soto, with Schwarber later lacing his 13th blast of the season to cap the five-run, six-hit frame.

Tennessee's shutout hopes ended in the very next inning, however, as Birmingham threatened a big inning of their own, only to be held to a single tally. After consecutive singles by 2B Joey DeMichele and LF Chris Marrero, with the former taking third on the play, Christian Marrero mashed an RBI base knock to center, cutting the deficit to 5-1. That would be the only run the Barons would score, however, thanks to a sensational diving catch in center field by Almora Jr., and then a inning-ending twin-killing induced by starter Ryan Williams.

The Smokies would then add two more scores in the fifth to increase the advantage to six. Almora Jr. led off the frame with another double and then advanced to third via Schwarber's single to center, before coming across on a wild pitch to make it 6-1. Tennessee would later cap their scoring when Schwarber scored on RF Billy McKinney's sacrifice fly to left.

Birmingam would make things interesting in the seventh and final frame, however, plating four tallies in the seventh and final frame. Nieto and 3B Chris Curley began the inning with back-to-back free passes, before Nieto came home on a run-scoring double from CF Marcus Lemon to start the scoring. Curley then came across on SS Tim Anderson's RBI base knock, while Lemon came plateward on a wild pitch to narrow the margin to three. Following Chris Marrero's RBI base hit, however, Smokies reliever Starling Peralta induced a game-ending double play to preserve the victory and the twinbill split.

Peralta (0.2 IP, 1 H) notched his first Double-A save, while All-Star reliever P.J. Francescon (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 SO) earned his second victory of the season with two shutout frames. Birmingham starter Tony Bucciferro (2.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) suffered the defeat in game two to fall to 0-4 on the year.

Francescon was one of seven Smokies named Southern League Mid-Season All-Stars, with that list also including Schwarber, C Willson Contreras, 1B Dan Vogelbach and pitchers Frank Batista, Corey Black and Felix Pena. Starters for the circuit's midsummer classic will be announced later this week.

Almora (2-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI), Schwarber (2-4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI) and Flete (2-3, R, RBI) each collected two base knocks for the Smokies in game two to lead the Tennessee order, while Chris Marrero (3-4, RBI) and Christian Marrero (3-4, RBI) each collected three hits. Contreras was held hitless in game one to snap a ten-game hitting streak, during which the 23-year-old hit .425 average (17-40) with ten runs, one double, two homers, 11 RBI..

Tennessee and Birmingham are set to finish their five-game series with a Wednesday matinee on Super Splash Day, with first pitch scheduled for 12:00 p.m. As part of the Super Splash Day festivities, fans can expect to get wet and possibly soaked with water-themed on-field contests throughout the afternoon. The Smokies are expected to give the ball to RHP Ivan Pineyro (4-3, 3.61) in the series finale, while the Barons are anticipated to send RHP Tyler Danish (4-2, 3.92) to toe the rubber.

Tickets for that game, and all other remaining Smokies home games 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 June 9, 2015


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