For further proof that football season is near, the Tennessee Smokies defeated the Chattanooga Lookouts 18-16 Wednesday night at AT&T Field.

Danny Dorn had a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run blast in the second as the Lookouts built a 7-2 lead, but his bases-loaded drive to center with two out in the ninth was caught at the warning track. Tennessee finished with 20 hits and Chattanooga 19 in the three-hour, 52-minute slugfest.

“This was crazy, and to fall short after battling like that is tough,” Dorn said. “After the second or third inning, we were kind of laughing with their players about how long this was going to go.”

The dizzying matchup came up just shy of the Southern League record for runs in a game, which was set at 35 in 1988 when Orlando defeated Huntsville 18-17.

“If we could have walked it off, it would have been a little more special,” Lookouts manager Mike Goff said. “Even though we gave up 18 runs, we scored 16 and had some big hits down the stretch.”

Tennessee improved to 24-22 and remains five games back of sizzling Carolina (29-17) in the North Division, while the Lookouts dropped to 18-28 and are 11 games back.

The Smokies sent 11 batters to the plate in the third inning and scored six runs to take an 8-7 lead, with Josh Lansford’s three-run homer to left giving the visitors their first lead. The Lookouts regained a 9-8 advantage in the bottom of the third on a throwing error by Smokies shortstop Matt Camp, but Tennessee grabbed a 12-9 lead in the fourth.

Doug Deeds hit a two-run homer to left-center in the seventh to help the Smokies take their largest lead at 15-10.

Southern League All-Star Game starting pitcher Ben Jukich has returned to Chattanooga and is scheduled to start tonight’s 7:15 matchup. In three starts with Triple-A Louisville, Jukich went 1-1 with a 4.67 ERA.

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