Chattanooga: Lookouts title hopes fade with loss to Suns

The Chattanooga Lookouts entered Wednesday afternoon’s game at AT&T Field with one scenario in which they could capture the Southern League’s North Division title outright — win their final 13 games and have Carolina lose 13 straight.

Scratch that dream.

Jacksonville’s 2-1 victory Wednesday meant the best the Lookouts could do was tie for the second-half crown, a hope that expired several hours later when Carolina beat Mississippi.

“It’s a little tough, because at the end of the season, you want to have a little something to play for,” Lookouts first baseman Danny Dorn said. “We still want to finish strong and win some games, because losing is no fun.”

Kelley Gulledge homered to center in the third inning to put Jacksonville up 2-1, and the Lookouts spent the rest of the day missing out on opportunities.

Chattanooga loaded the bases in the fifth before Justin Turner struck out and Drew Anderson flied to left. In the seventh, Dorn doubled off the center-field wall with two out, but Turner lined out to the mound. And in the eighth, Eric Eymann was picked off first with runners at first and second and B.J. Szymanski grounded into a double play with runners at the corners.

“When we have 19 hits and only four runs the last two games, it’s obvious we need to improve on base-running and situational hitting,” interim manager Jamie Dismuke said after slipping to 2-2 in the role. “Until we get that done, we’re going to struggle.”

The Lookouts are 24-34 this half, but Dismuke does not believe his club will just go through the motions until Labor Day.

“We’ve got some guys who have put together some good years so far, and I’m sure they’ll want to keep putting up numbers to impress the new GM and people in the front office,” he said. “The title may not be there, but the big picture is for these guys to play in the big leagues. That’s what is great about minor league baseball. It’s not like the big leagues, where you’re out of it and that’s really it.”

Eymann and Chris Valaika are hitting .298 and have the .300 mark well within reach, while Sean Henry (.288) and Turner (.283) aren’t too far off. Pitchers Ben Jukich (9-4, 3.72) and Sam Lecure (9-7, 3.64) should get two more chances to post double-digit victories, and there is the outside chance of a winning season overall.

Chattanooga is 61-67 in its 140-game slate.

“I don’t think staying motivated will be tough at all because I think everyone here wants to have success on his own,” Turner said. “If you’re winning a bunch of games here at the end, usually it’s because guys are putting together some pretty good games. We’ve got some guys who have had good years, so it would be a shame to just mail it in.”