Corey Smith produced Chattanooga's finest swing of the season on a sweltering Sunday afternoon at AT&T Field, bailing the Lookouts out of the most careless game they've played.
Smith's walk-off grand slam over the left-field wall catapulted Chattanooga to an unlikely 6-4 victory over the Carolina Mudcats, earning the Lookouts their first two-game home winning streak of the month. The Lookouts won despite committing four errors and two base-running blunders, which left manager Carlos Subero somewhere between ranting and rejoicing.
"I've got mixed emotions, because we were able to turn around a game like that, but at the same time, you can't overlook the bad game that we played," Subero said. "It was one of the worst, no doubt, that I've ever been involved in. We knew before the season that there would be some mistakes made out of aggressiveness, but after 40-something games, you would like to see us close that gap."
The Lookouts (19-25) entered the bottom of the ninth inning down 4-1, a deficit that could have been 5-1 had right fielder Scott Van Slyke not rocketed a throw to catcher Mike Rivera in the top of the ninth to foil a Carolina sacrifice attempt. Dustin Yount had a pinch-hit single to center with nobody out and runners on the corners to score Jaime Pedroza and pull the Lookouts within 4-2, but Elian Herrera was thrown out trying to take third.
Phillippe Valiquette walked Dee Gordon and Jordan Smith walked Trayvon Robinson to set the stage for Corey Smith's slam, which occurred on Jordan Smith's 1-0 slider.
"I was talking to it down the line, praying that it would stay fair for me. It did," Smith said. "You can't quit. That's the main thing. When sharks see blood, they attack. Three runs is really just two hits and a blast, so you can't quit at the end of the game."
The 28-year-old Smith had a walk-off solo shot at AT&T on April 22 that turned back Montgomery 6-5 in 10 innings. Sunday was the first career walk-off slam for the former Cleveland Indians first-round pick, whose 11 years in pro baseball have been spent in the minors.
"That's what we needed right there," Lookouts second baseman Jaime Pedroza said. "That's huge, because we've just been waiting for something to happen."
Pedroza singled to right with two out in the second inning, but the rally fizzled when Van Slyke raced well past second on Pedroza's hit and was tagged out trying to recover. With two out in the fourth inning, Carolina's Dave Sappelt singled to center, stole second and scored on Jose Castro's single to right.
It stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when Castro struck again with an infield hit with the bases loaded. Carolina (20-24) regained a two-run bulge in the seventh at 3-1 when Eric Eymann singled to right-center with one out, advanced to second on a Pedroza fielding error and scored on a Denis Phipps single to center.
The Lookouts have committed 59 errors through 44 games.
"We're not even playing close to our talent, and that's our job," Subero said. "We have the talent to play better defense than that."
Mario Alvarez (3-3, 4.01) is scheduled to start tonight's 7:15 series finale for the Lookouts, with Dallas Buck (3-4, 5.59) scheduled for the Mudcats.