Bruno and Bryant Power Smokies to 10-7 Win

JACKSON – Stephen Bruno was 4-for-5 with two batted in and Kris Bryant added his league leading 11th home run while driving in four and the Smokies defeated the Generals 10-7 on Tuesday night at Generals Park. The victory secured Tennessee’s third straight series victory.

Smokies’ reliever P.J. Francescon earned the win after following Major Leaguer Jose Veras, Arodys Vizcaino and scheduled starter Pierce Johnson. Francescon (5-1) allowed a run and two hits over 2 and 2/3 innings.

Veras and Vizcaino pitched the first two innings for the Smokies (23-16) and kept the Generals (16-23) scoreless. Veras started and did not allow a run in his MLB rehabilitation assignment. Vizcaino struck out three and allowed one hit in the second.

Johnson pitched the third, fourth and part of the fifth before leaving the game. He allowed four runs on five hits and walked six.

The Smokies offense jumped out to an early lead with a six run third. Taylor Davis started the rally with a one out triple and John Andreoli walked setting the stage for Bruno, Tennessee’s hottest hitter in May. Bruno blasted a double to right to score Davis giving the Smokies a 1-0 lead. Bryant then lived up to his Southern League Hitter of the Week accolades by crushing a ball far into the Jackson night for a three-run home run and extending the lead to 4-0.

The Smokies, however, were not done there. Dustin Geiger got on base with a two-out walk and Rubi Silva, who had been hitting .472 in his last 10 games, hit a double to left to make it 5-0. Jae-Hoon Ha would then add to lead with an RBI single to put the Smokies up 6-0 after three.

Jackson, however, like the previous three games, would not go quietly as in the fourth they made some noise. After Nathan Melendres singled and Daniel Paolini walked, Patrick Kivlehan singled in Melendres to score the first Jackson run of the game. The Generals showed patience at the plate with back-to-back walks to Kevin Rivers and John Hicks which would force in a run to make it 6-2. A Mickey Wiswall sacrifice fly to cut the Smokies lead in half to 6-3 and Leon Landry would ground into a fielder’s choice to make it 6-4.

In the sixth, Tennessee would spark a two-out rally with a walk to Andreoli and a single from Bruno. Bryant would then single up the middle and extend the lead to 7-4.

Jackson answered back in the sixth as Wiswall hit a home run to right and that cut the Tennessee lead to 7-5.

Jeudy Valdez led off the eighth with a triple and scored moments later on a double by Davis. Davis was 3-for-5 with two runs and two batted for the Smokies. He later moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single from Bruno to give the Smokies a 9-5 lead.

In the ninth, Geiger would lead off with a walk and advanced to second on a Silva groundout. He then moved to third on a flyout from Valdez. Davis then came up and drove in Geiger for an insurance run making it 10-5.

The Generals bats would not quit as they made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Ketel Marte reached on a one-out single and then Melendres drilled a RBI triple to right to cut the Smokies lead to 10-6. Paolini then grounded out to shortstop and that cut the lead to 10-7. That would be all that Jackson could muster as Tennessee’s closer Armando Rivero struck out Kivlehan to end the game.

The Smokies were 7-for-17 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine men on base. They collected 13 hits, including eight extra base hits and three triples.

Bruno was 4-for-5 and batting .458 with 22 hits, 11 doubles, two home runs and 15 runs batted in over 12 games in May.

The club returns home to Kodak on Wednesday May 21 to open a five-game homestand with the Mobile BayBears, the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. at Smokies Stadium.

Tickets for all remaining 2014 Smokies home games are still available and can be purchased online at http://www.smokiesbaseball.com, or by calling the Smokies Ticket Office at (865) 286-2300.

JACKSON – Stephen Bruno was 4-for-5 with two batted in and Kris Bryant added his league leading 11th home run while driving in four and the Smokies defeated the Generals 10-7 on Tuesday night at Generals Park. The victory secured Tennessee’s third straight series victory.

Smokies’ reliever P.J. Francescon earned the win after following Major Leaguer Jose Veras, Arodys Vizcaino and scheduled starter Pierce Johnson. Francescon (5-1) allowed a run and two hits over 2 and 2/3 innings.

Veras and Vizcaino pitched the first two innings for the Smokies (23-16) and kept the Generals (16-23) scoreless. Veras started and did not allow a run in his MLB rehabilitation assignment. Vizcaino struck out three and allowed one hit in the second.

Johnson pitched the third, fourth and part of the fifth before leaving the game. He allowed four runs on five hits and walked six.

The Smokies offense jumped out to an early lead with a six run third. Taylor Davis started the rally with a one out triple and John Andreoli walked setting the stage for Bruno, Tennessee’s hottest hitter in May. Bruno blasted a double to right to score Davis giving the Smokies a 1-0 lead. Bryant then lived up to his Southern League Hitter of the Week accolades by crushing a ball far into the Jackson night for a three-run home run and extending the lead to 4-0.

The Smokies, however, were not done there. Dustin Geiger got on base with a two-out walk and Rubi Silva, who had been hitting .472 in his last 10 games, hit a double to left to make it 5-0. Jae-Hoon Ha would then add to lead with an RBI single to put the Smokies up 6-0 after three.

Jackson, however, like the previous three games, would not go quietly as in the fourth they made some noise. After Nathan Melendres singled and Daniel Paolini walked, Patrick Kivlehan singled in Melendres to score the first Jackson run of the game. The Generals showed patience at the plate with back-to-back walks to Kevin Rivers and John Hicks which would force in a run to make it 6-2. A Mickey Wiswall sacrifice fly to cut the Smokies lead in half to 6-3 and Leon Landry would ground into a fielder’s choice to make it 6-4.

In the sixth, Tennessee would spark a two-out rally with a walk to Andreoli and a single from Bruno. Bryant would then single up the middle and extend the lead to 7-4.

Jackson answered back in the sixth as Wiswall hit a home run to right and that cut the Tennessee lead to 7-5.

Jeudy Valdez led off the eighth with a triple and scored moments later on a double by Davis. Davis was 3-for-5 with two runs and two batted for the Smokies. He later moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single from Bruno to give the Smokies a 9-5 lead.

In the ninth, Geiger would lead off with a walk and advanced to second on a Silva groundout. He then moved to third on a flyout from Valdez. Davis then came up and drove in Geiger for an insurance run making it 10-5.

The Generals bats would not quit as they made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Ketel Marte reached on a one-out single and then Melendres drilled a RBI triple to right to cut the Smokies lead to 10-6. Paolini then grounded out to shortstop and that cut the lead to 10-7. That would be all that Jackson could muster as Tennessee’s closer Armando Rivero struck out Kivlehan to end the game.

The Smokies were 7-for-17 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine men on base. They collected 13 hits, including eight extra base hits and three triples.

Bruno was 4-for-5 and batting .458 with 22 hits, 11 doubles, two home runs and 15 runs batted in over 12 games in May.

The club returns home to Kodak on Wednesday May 21 to open a five-game homestand with the Mobile BayBears, the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. at Smokies Stadium.

Tickets for all remaining 2014 Smokies home games are still available and can be purchased online at http://www.smokiesbaseball.com, or by calling the Smokies Ticket Office at (865) 286-2300.