Smokies soar past Stars in 10-5 come-for-behind win

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Smokies scored nine unanswered runs after falling behind through four innings of action Thursday night, scoring at least one run in each of the next four stanzas. Tennessee (54-47) won its second straight game against Huntsville (43-57) 10-5 at Joe W. Davis Municipal Stadium.

Trailing 4-0 in the fifth inning, the Smokies’ offense lifted off against the Stars. With one out, Matt Szczur reached on an error and John Andreoli walked setting the stage for Javier Baez. The Cubs’ top prospect homered for the third straight night, hammering a 1-1 pitch over the center field fence to pull the Smokies within a 4-3 tally.

Rubi Silva evened the score at 4-4 in the top of the sixth with a leadoff round-tripper into the right field seats. The outfielder extended his hitting streak to 11 games with his 12th home run of the season.

The Smokies took their first lead of the game in the top of the seventh inning. With one out, Justin Bour crushed a 1-1 offering over the centerfield wall giving the visiting team a 5-4 advantage.

Following a Christian Villanueva strikeout, Tennessee loaded the bases for Arismendy Alcantara. The second basemen snapped a 0-for-16 streak with a bases-clearing double to extend the lead to 8-4.

With two outs in the eighth inning, Javier Baez clubbed his second home run of the game over the right field fence to extend the edge to 9-4.

Austin Kirk’s first inning woes continued Thursday evening. The lefty loaded the bases with just one out and Brock Kjeldgaard singled in a run to make it 1-0. Joey Paciorek walked to put Huntsville on top 2-0, but Kirk induced a double play to get out of the inning without any further damage. The southpaw now has a 13.00 ERA in the first inning for Tennessee this season.

Huntsville added to its lead in the bottom of the third inning. Four of the first five batters of the frame reached safely including an RBI single from Paciorek to put the Stars on top 3-0. Kirk faced one more batter before being relieved by P.J. Francescon. Hector Gomez dropped down a perfect suicide squeeze to bring home the game’s fourth run.

Baez went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four runs batted in. Bour, Silva, and Jonathan Mota each added a pair of base knocks as Tennessee pounded out thirteen hits.

Righthander A.J. Morris (3-1, 3.61) will get the ball for Tennessee Friday night looking to rebound from a loss in his last start, the first loss for Morris since June 2012. Righty Ariel Pena (5-7, 3.56) will take the hill for Huntsville with first pitch scheduled for 7:43 p.m.

AUDIO RECAP  SMOKIES  10  Stars  5

To stay current with all the latest news, follow Smokies on Radio on Twitter and like the Smokies on Radio Facebook page. Michael Wottreng is a Broadcast and Multimedia Assistant for the Smokies Radio Network. You can follow Michael on Twitter here: @MWottreng