Although he was penciled into the last spot in Biloxi's batting order Friday, Nathan Orf was right in the middle of what the Shuckers did offensively in a 3-2 Southern League baseball victory over the Chattanooga Lookouts at AT&T Field.
Both teams still lead their respective divisions, Biloxi (29-19) in the South and Chattanooga (29-18) in the North. The fourth game in the series of five is tonight at 7:15.
Orf went 2-for-3 and scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning. He was on first base when Kyle Wren fouled out to catcher Carlos Paulino near the backstop, then tagged up and took off for second.
Although Paulino's throw to second sailed into center field, allowing Wren to take third, Lookouts manager Doug Mientkiewicz didn't lay all the blame on his catcher.
"We've got to get off the bag there and catch that," Mientkiewicz said.
Chattanooga Lookouts first baseman Max Kepler (40) attempts to pick off Biloxi's Michael Reed (17) at AT&T Field in Chattanooga on Friday, May 29, 2015.With Orf at third with one out, Chattanooga brought its infield in, but Tyrone Taylor lined a double to the left-center-field gap. He was thrown out trying to stretch the hit, but the go-ahead run was in.
Biloxi took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning when, with the bases loaded and two out, Orf singled through the middle. Michael Reed and Brandon Macias, both of whom walked, scored before Parker Berberet was thrown out trying to advance from first to third.
Chattanooga tied it in the fifth on Jorge Polanco's single. Polanco drove in Paulino, who had walked, from second, and Byron Buxton also scored on the play.
Buxton had reached on a single and moved around to third on Polanco's hit. Then when left fielder Wren threw the ball into the infield, there was some confusion between Shuckers pitcher Brent Suter and catcher Berberet as the ball came rolling across the diamond between the pitcher's mound and home plate.
It seemed at the last second each thought the other would get the ball, so both ended up going to cover home. As the ball rolled on toward the first-base dugout, Buxton was able to score standing up.
Lookouts starting pitcher Greg Peavey threw six innings and got a no-decision. Aside from the second inning, he allowed one hit and one walk.
"He's been pretty good," Mientkiewicz said of Peavey, who came into the game 4-1 but with a 6.32 earned run average. "He's had two bad starts, maybe his second and third of the year. He's the guy we wanted in the Rule 5 draft this year. He had a good year in the Eastern League last year, which is a tough league to pitch in. That's kind of what he does."
At 2-for-4, Steve Wickens was the only Chattanooga player with more than one hit, although the Lookouts stranded nine runners while Biloxi left four on base.
"They pitched well," Mientkiewicz said of the Shuckers' four pitchers, reliever Mike Strong (2-0) getting the victory and Damien Magnifico earning his fourth save. "There's a reason why they're leading their division. They're fundamentally sound. They gave us two runs, but we gave them one back.
"We definitely can swing the bats better, but their pitchers did a good job keeping us off balance."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at sports@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.