Teddy Clark
BIRMINGHAM, AL - After taking the first half and clinching a playoff berth, the Knoxville Smokies took to the road and headed down to Birmingham, AL, to face the Barons this week for their first series of the second half. Riding the momentum of winning the first half, the Smokies looked to start the second half off strong, and that's the exact start they got, taking five of the six games in the series. Relying on timely hitting and great pitching, the Knoxville Smokies got off to a great start in the second half.
Game 1: Smokies Come Out Swinging
The Knoxville Smokies decided to get things going early in game one of the series, starting the second inning off with an Andy Garriola home run to get on the board early, making it a 1-0 ballgame. The Smokies would continue to score early, putting all but one of their runs in the first four innings. The Smokies would continue to add to their lead in the third inning when they had the bases loaded and Alex Ramirez hit an RBI ground out, which scored Ed Howard. Andy Garriola would come up later in the inning and hit a hard line drive double that would score Karson Simas, making the game 3-0.
The Smokies would go on to score one more run in the top of the fourth by way of a Jefferson Rojas sacrifice fly, then in the bottom of the fourth the Barons would try to get their offense going by scoring three runs, two of those coming off a Jeral Perez RBI double. The Barons would score one more run later in the inning off a Dylan Campbell walk. Both offenses would go pretty silent for the rest of the game, with only one more run being scored in the seventh inning when Owen Ayers hit a solo home run to make the final score 5-4.
The Barons would go deep into the bullpen for this game, throwing five different pitchers, all throwing just one inning other than the starter Jake Palisch, who threw five innings allowing seven hits, four runs, two walks, and just one strikeout. The Barons bullpen would then take over, throwing a combined four innings, only allowing three hits and one earned run.
The Smokies pitching staff marched to a different beat, throwing only three pitchers in the contest. Starter Connor Schultz went three and one-third innings, allowing two hits and three runs, while tallying up five strikeouts. From there the Smokies turned to reliever Erian Rodriguez, who went on to throw two and two-thirds innings allowing zero runs and striking out three, picking up the win. Tyler Schlaffer would come in to record the save, throwing three shutout innings and allowing only one hit while racking up three strikeouts.
Game 2: The Smokies Score a Perfect 10
The Smokies in this series had one plan at the plate — attack! The Smokies would come out in game two and score two runs in the first, the first being a Jefferson Rojas home run out to left field. Alex Ramirez would come up later in the inning and hit an RBI double to center field to score Owen Ayers. The onslaught wouldn't stop there as Jefferson Rojas would hit another home run in the second inning to score three runs, making the game 5-0. The Barons would add one run to the board by way of an RBI ground out from Colby Shelton to score Anthony DePino. In the third inning Andy Garriola would come up and hit a two-run home run to extend the lead and make the score 7-1.
The two offenses would go scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings but would get ignited again in the sixth inning when Jefferson Rojas got his fifth RBI of the ballgame, singling to score Hayden Cantrelle. The Barons would look to respond in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs, both coming off a single by Grant Magill. The Smokies would then go on to put up two more runs in the eighth, the first coming from an Andy Garriola RBI single and the second from a wild pitch that scored Alex Ramirez, completing the 10-run ballgame for the Knoxville Smokies. The Barons were not done scoring, however, putting up one more run in the bottom of the ninth courtesy of a Caleb Bonemer RBI single, completing the scoring at 10-4.
The Barons pitching staff would roll out five pitchers again; only two of them would go over two innings. First was the starter Gabe Davis, who threw two and one-third innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits and three home runs. The Barons would then turn to Aric McAtee, who went on to throw two and two-thirds innings giving up zero runs and walking two batters. The Barons would roll out three more pitchers for the final four innings of the ballgame, combining for four innings, allowing six hits and three runs.
The Smokies kept the same strategy as game one. Starter Nick Dean went five innings, allowing only three hits and one run while striking out five. Yenrri Rojas would come in for the sixth inning, allowing two runs on two hits. For the seventh and eighth innings, Evan Taylor would take over and throw two scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while striking out four. To close the game out the Smokies would turn to Kenyi Perez, who came in and allowed one run on two hits while also racking up two strikeouts.
Game 3: The Smokies Stay Perfect
The Smokies stayed hot going into game three, starting off the game with an Owen Ayers home run in the first and then Hayden Cantrelle hit an RBI double in the second to score Ariel Armas, making it a 2-0 ballgame. Innings three through six would be scoreless on both sides, then the scoring would get started again in the seventh when Ed Howard hit a two-run shot to push the lead to four. The Barons would try to gain some ground in the eighth when Alec Briley hit a home run cutting the score to 3-1, but the Smokies would get that run back by way of a Karson Simas RBI ground out that scored Hayden Cantrelle.
The Barons changed their pitching strategy in game three, throwing just three pitchers in the contest. Starter Lucas Gordon threw six innings allowing four hits and two runs, while totaling a season-high eight strikeouts. Jackson Kelley would then come in for relief in the seventh, allowing two hits and two runs. To close out the game for the Barons, Morris Austin would come in and throw two innings, allowing only one run on one hit.
The Smokies would stick to what they know, letting starter Dawson Netz go a season-high six innings, not allowing a run and giving up only two hits. Marino Santy would come into the game and throw one and two-thirds innings, striking out three and giving up only one hit. Tyler Ras came in to throw just one-third of an inning and gave up one run on one hit. Luke Little would be subbed in to throw the final inning of the game, shutting down the Barons and striking out two of the four batters faced.
Game 4: Smokies Clinch the Series
For game four of the series, the bats were not as hot as they had been in the past three games. For the first time this series, both teams made it out of the second inning without allowing a run, and also for the first time in the series, the Barons were the first to put runs on the board. The Barons scored in the bottom of the third by way of a Caleb Bonemer RBI single and wouldn't score again until a Brenden Dixon sac fly scored Colby Shelton. The Smokies would score two runs in the fourth, the first coming from a Carter Trice RBI double and the second from a Hayden Cantrelle sac fly. Ethan Hearn would drive in another run in the seventh to score Hayden Cantrelle, which also ended up being the winning run. The game ended with a final score of 3-2.
The Barons pitching staff relied heavily on starter Connor McCullough, who threw four and one-third innings, allowing six hits and giving up two runs while striking out five. The Barons would then throw three more pitchers; first in relief was Phil Fox, who threw one and two-thirds innings allowing no runs. From there the Barons brought in Pierce George, who threw two innings and allowed one run on two hits. Jonathan Clark would come in to close the game, allowing zero runs and zero hits.
Smokies starter Jace Beck, coming off a career-high game against the Lookouts, had an even better game against the Barons. Beck threw five complete innings, allowing only one run and punching out a career-high 11 batters. Frankie Scalzo Jr. would come in relief and throw two scoreless innings, allowing zero hits and striking out one batter. To close the game, the Smokies would look to Tyler Santanna, who came in for the last two innings and allowed only one run on two hits.
Game 5: The Smokies' Big Inning Blast
In game five of the series, the Barons put up all their runs before the Smokies ever scored. The Barons would get on the board early in the second when T.J. McCants hit an RBI single to score Colby Shelton. The Barons would go on to score two more runs in the seventh, starting with an Alec Briley sac fly to score Brenden Dixon, then Anthony DePino hit an RBI single that scored T.J. McCants, making it a 3-0 ballgame at the end of the seventh. The Smokies bats got hot, scoring all of their runs in the eighth. Getting things started for the Smokies was Devin Ortiz, who hit a ground ball back to the pitcher that scored Edgar Alvarez — the floodgates opened from there. Hayden Cantrelle would come up after him and hit a two-run RBI single, then Carter Trice would hit a sac fly to give the Smokies the lead. Andy Garriola would make his way up to bat and also hit a two-run RBI single. Then to finish off the onslaught, Edgar Alvarez would come up and hit an RBI double, making the final score 7-3 Knoxville.
The Barons pitching staff would ride starter Dylan Cumming for six scoreless innings, where he allowed only three hits. For the seventh inning they went to Nick Altermatt, who threw a scoreless seventh and then started the eighth before allowing three runs and being relieved by Jackson Kelley. Kelley would only throw for one out of the eighth, during which he also allowed three runs. The Barons would then look to Morris Austin to get them out of the eighth. Austin threw the final two outs of the inning, giving up two hits and one earned run. To finish the game the Barons threw Jacob Heatherly, who threw a scoreless ninth and allowed zero hits.
The Smokies went with more of a bullpen game due to the calling up of starter Grant Kipp. Evan Taylor would start the game for the Smokies, going only two innings and giving up three hits while allowing one run. Yenrri Rojas would take over for two and two-thirds innings, all scoreless. Tyler Ras took over in the fifth, going for another two innings and giving up four hits and two runs. Tyler Schlaffer would come in to finish the game, shutting down the Barons and earning the win.
Game 6: Barons Break the Streak
With the series won and the Smokies riding a five-game win streak to start the second half, the Smokies came out swinging early in the final game of the series, getting on the board first with an Alex Ramirez RBI double. The Barons were also trying to start the game hot, coming out in the bottom of the first to score two runs — the first from a Caleb Bonemer RBI double and the second from an Anthony DePino RBI ground out — making the score 2-1. The Barons would strike again in the second when Jorge Corona hit an RBI single to extend the lead. The Smokies would respond in the third with an RBI double by Andy Garriola, then take the lead in the fifth after Edgar Alvarez hit a three-run home run, making the score 5-3 going into the bottom of the fifth.
The Barons would tie the game in the bottom of the fifth after Alec Briley hit a home run of his own, scoring himself and Brenden Dixon. Then in the sixth, the Barons would take back the lead after Caleb Bonemer hit a grand slam, making the score 9-5. The Barons would score once more in the eighth after a walk-in run, concluding the scoring at 10-5.
Both teams' bullpens had been exhausted going into this game, so both teams were forced to ride their starters. The Barons relied heavily on starter Jake Palisch, who threw five innings allowing 13 hits, five earned runs, and only one strikeout. The Smokies' starter was newcomer Koen Moreno, who threw a solid four innings, allowing only three hits and three runs in his first appearance at the Double-A level.
The Barons and the Smokies would both turn to their exhausted bullpens from there. The Barons threw five different pitchers to close this game out, combining for four innings, allowing four hits and zero runs. The Smokies threw four different pitchers who combined for four innings pitched, allowing five hits and seven runs.
Wrap Up
After taking the first-half championship and clinching a playoff berth, the Smokies were looking to start the second half off strong. They would go on to win five of the six games in the series. The Smokies bats stayed hot throughout, keeping the same tempo that they had the last time they traveled to the Heart of Dixie. The Smokies put up 35 runs in total during this series, the fourth most runs the Smokies have scored within a series — all series in which they scored more runs were also against Alabama teams. This also pushes the Smokies' record against the Barons to 15-6 this season, which is the best win percentage the Smokies have against any team.
The Smokies pitching staff also showed out in this series, going a combined 5-1 with a 3.57 ERA over 53.0 innings pitched and striking out 61 batters while allowing only 41 hits. Smokies starter Jace Beck also stood out this week, going five innings and punching out a career-high 11 batters — all this after setting a career high in strikeouts the week before against the Lookouts. This puts him atop the leaderboard for strikeouts among Smokies pitchers with 85 punchouts.
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