Tennessee’s leadoff man John Andreoli and center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha combined to drive in four runs during a five run fourth as the Smokies defeated the Jackson Generals 7-2 at Smokies Park on Wednesday afternoon. Rehabbing Major Leaguer Jake Arrieta allowed a run on three hits over 5 and 2/3 and earned the win.
Arrieta (1-1) kept the Generals (7-5) in check over nearly six innings pitched. The Chicago Cubs right-hander allowed a first inning a double, but faced the minimum through four. He returned for the fifth after a long Tennessee (6-6) five run rally in the fourth and would face five Jackson batters in the inning. He allowed two hits, a walk and a run in the fifth after the long wait. Arrieta departed the game after retiring two straight on come backers in the sixth.
Trevor Miller started for the Generals and allowed five earned runs and six total over 3 and 2/3 innings pitched. Miller (0-2) walked three and struck out two in the loss.
Smokies’ catcher Rafael Lopez broke a scoreless tie in the third after scoring on an Andreoli sacrifice fly to center. Lopez scored twice, walked twice and was 1-for-2 in the victory.
Andreoli came through again in the fourth with a two-run single to right. That hit was part of a five run and three hit outburst for the Smokies.
The inning started with a Rubi Silva single and then back-to-back walks from Kris Bryant and Dustin Geiger. Ha then followed with a single to score both Silva and Bryant. Ha’s hit was his first of the season and it gave Tennessee a 3-0 lead.
Lopez followed Ha with a walk and Jonathan Mota brought in a run with a sacrifice fly to left that plated Geiger. Andreoli singled to score two more and the Smokies took a 6-0 lead.
The Tennessee five run fourth knocked Miller out of the game and gave Arrieta and the Smokies’ bullpen a comfortable six run lead to work with. P.J. Francescon relieved Arrieta in the sixth and struck out the first batter he faced. Francescon went on to strikeout the first two he faced in the seventh and left after pitching two scoreless innings. Franceson allowed a hit and struck out four in his appearance.
Jeff Lorrick finished the game and allowed a hit and one run over 1 and 1/3 innings. He also walked one and struck out one. He hit a batter, allowed one hit, walked and struck out one during the one run Jackson ninth.
Richard Vargas and David Colvin also pitched for the Generals. Vargas allowed a hit and two walks over 1 and 1/3 scoreless innings. Colvin gave up three hits and a run over three innings.
The two teams will play again with a doubleheader scheduled for Thursday evening. The first pitch of game 1 is scheduled for 5:30 pm at Smokies Park. Game 2 of that doubleheader is scheduled to start 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game.
The doubleheader falls on the first Thirsty Thursday promotion of the season. Draft beers and Pepsi products will be discounted to $1.00 during Thursday’s games.
Tickets for those contests and the remaining games of Tennessee’s ten-game homestand, which lasts through Friday, April 18, are still available, and can be purchased at http://www.smokiesbaseball.com, or by calling the Smokies Ticket Office at (865) 286-2300.
Andrew Green
James Rowe
Leave a Reply