SL1 Knoxville Smokies

Suns set on Smokies 8-4

Published on May 25, 2007 under Southern League (SL1)
Knoxville Smokies News Release


Sevierville, TN - Despite the efforts of outfielder Josh Kroeger, the Tennessee Smokies fell in game three of the five game series against the Jacksonville Suns by the score of 8-3. A near capacity crowd of 5,587 came to their feet when Kroeger blasted his second home run of the night. The crowd rose up again for a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth that fell just short as the Smokies fell to 24-22 on the season.

Jacksonville got the scoring started in the top of the second inning off of Smokies starter Mark Holliman (6-2), who entered the game with the lowest ERA in the Southern League. Holliman struggled through the 2nd and 4th innings, giving up four runs in both frames. The right-hander went 5 2/3 innings, yielding 11 hits, eight runs while walking six batters. After four innings, the Smokies were down 8-0.

The Smokies struck back in the bottom of the 4th on a monstrous shot by Kroeger, his first home run of the evening, to cut the lead to 8-1. Kroeger continued to pace the Smokies in the seventh with his second home run of the night, a laser shot to deep right center field. Casey McGehee followed with a double, and then Matt Craig singled. Gary Cates hit a sacrifice fly to score McGehee, and suddenly the score was 8-3 Suns.

Things got really interesting in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Craig singled to improve to 4-4 on the night. Carlos Rojas walked, followed by a pinch-hit single by Chris Robinson to load the bases. A wild pitch by Jon Meloan scored Craig from third, and the Smokies were within 4 runs. Sam Fuld walked to load the bases, which brought Jorge Cortes to the plate as the tying run. But Cortes flew out to left field to end the game with the score 8-4 in favor of the Suns.

Joey Norrito (1-0) got the win for Jacksonville, with Meloan recording his sixth save of the season.

Tennessee will try to even the score with the Suns on Saturday night at Smokies Park. Game time will be 7:15 pm. Left-hander Donny Veal (2-4, 6.35) will take to the hill for the Smokies to face left-hander Mike Megrew (3-3, 5.28).

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Southern League Stories from May 25, 2007


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