Smokies Outlast Biscuits 4-3, Notch First Road Win of 2022
April 12, 2022 - Southern League (SL)
Knoxville Smokies News Release
MONTGOMERY, AL - The Tennessee Smokies (3-1) picked up a 4-3 win over the Montgomery Biscuits (2-2) in their first road game of the season Tuesday night at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery.
The Smokies pitching staff piled up 14 strikeouts, including six over the final three innings to close the door on the victory. Tennessee now has double-digit strikeouts in each of the first four games and leads the Southern League with 54 as a staff.
Tennesee jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning. With two outs, Chase Strumpf muscled a three-run home run to straight away centerfield and gave the Smokies an early 3-0 advantage. Two batters into the second inning, Yonathan Perlaza launched a mammoth solo home run out of Riverwalk Stadium and pushed the Tennessee cushion to 4-0.
The Biscuits responded with three unanswered runs, including two in the sixth, and slimmed the Smokies' lead to 4-3.
The Smokies never trailed, and Bryan Hudson (2-0) earned his second win of the season with two and one-third innings in relief. Hudson had four punch outs. Hard-throwing right-hander Dauris Valdez entered in the seventh and threw two shutout innings to keep the lead in tact. Then, Brandon Hughes struck out the Montgomery side in order in the ninth to notch his first save of 2022.
Offensively, Darius Hill and Nelson Maldonado paced the Smokies with two hits each. Maldonado is now batting .545 for the season and picked up his second double of the year. Strumpf led the offense with three RBI. The Smokies and the Biscuits square off for the second game of the six-game series Wednesday night at 7:35 p.m. ET. Anderson Espinoza (0-0, 0.00 ERA) makes his season debut for the Smokies while Caleb Sampen (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will start for Montgomery. Fans can hear all Smokies games by going to https://www.milb.com/tennessee/fans/audio-listen-live.
The Smokies return home Tuesday, April 19th for a six-game homestand against the Rocket City Trash Pandas.Tuesday April 19th is Taco Tuesday as well as Healthcare Appreciation night at Smokies stadium sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
Southern League Stories from April 12, 2022
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- Chattanooga Cruises to 16-4 Home Opening Win - Chattanooga Lookouts
- Smokies Outlast Biscuits 4-3, Notch First Road Win of 2022 - Knoxville Smokies
- Lugbauer Hits 2nd Homer of Season, M-Braves Lose First Road Game to Shuckers 6-4 - Mississippi Braves
- Aviles Homers Late to Lead Blue Wahoos to First Win - Pensacola Blue Wahoos
- Trash Pandas Drop Home Opener to Pensacola 4-3 - Rocket City Trash Pandas
- Blue Wahoos Stadium to Host Trio of Easter Holiday Events - Pensacola Blue Wahoos
- Smokies Stadium Hosts No. 1 Tennessee Tonight with SEC History on the Line - Knoxville Smokies
- Full Promotional Schedule Announced for Biloxi Shuckers - Biloxi Shuckers
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