Chattanooga Lookouts beat rain and Suns, 6-4

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

The Chattanooga Lookouts beat the Suns and the rain Monday night, earning a series-opening 6-4 triumph over Jacksonville before an announced crowd of 2,718 at AT&T Field.

Darnell Sweeney's single to right field in the fifth inning scored Chris O'Brien and Ozzie Martinez to erase Jacksonville's 2-1 advantage. Sweeney entered Monday batting .133 and without any RBIs this season, but he went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs. His home run to right in the eighth gave the Lookouts a 4-2 lead.

The game matched teams with three-game losing streaks and the Southern League's worst records through the first 10 games. Chattanooga is now 4-7, while Jacksonville dropped to 3-8.

The Suns took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Joe Benson doubled and scored on a Brady Shoemaker groundout, and they made it 2-0 in the fifth on Austin Nola's single that scored Anthony DeSciafani.

Chattanooga opened its half of the fifth with singles by Daniel Mayora, O'Brien and Martinez, with Martinez driving in Mayora. The three-run fifth enabled Lookouts starting pitcher Carlos Frias to collect the win.

Frias worked into the eighth and recorded two outs before being replaced by Jarret Martin, and he lowered his season earned run average to 2.89. Martin recorded the final out of the eighth and then took a 6-2 lead into the ninth following Sweeney's homer and Jeremy Hazelbaker's two-run triple to right.

Martin struggled in the ninth, however, allowing three walks, a single and a hit batter, as the Suns pulled within 6-4. Pedro Baez came in to replace Martin and recorded the game's final two outs with the bases loaded.

Game two of the five-game series between the Lookouts and Suns is tonight at 7:15, with Tyson Brummett scheduled to start on the mound for Chattanooga.