Gearrin has thrill despite loss

Mississippi Braves relief pitcher Cory Gearrin didn't pick up the victory Thursday night at AT&T Field, nor did any of his teammates in a 6-2 loss to Chattanooga.

The outcome, however, did not lessen an experience Gearrin will never forget.

The former Rhea County standout who lives in Chattanooga across from the courthouse worked a scoreless eighth inning in his AT&T debut. He had a cheering section several rows behind the visiting dugout and was all smiles afterward as he received congratulations from family and friends.

"It was exciting," Gearrin said. "When I sailed my first warmup pitch to the backstop, I was like, 'Whoa, calm down.' You try to pitch with a little bit of edge and excitement, but you also want to be under control. I wasn't completely calm until I was back in the dugout."

The Lookouts improved to 28-38 with their third consecutive victory, while the Braves dropped to 30-37 with their seventh straight loss.

Facing the top of Chattanooga's order, the right-hander with a sidearm delivery gave up a single to right field to Adam Godwin before getting Justin Sellers to line out to center. He touched 90 mph in striking out Josh Bell and 90 again in striking out Mike Rose, but his third strike to Rose was a wild pitch, resulting in runners on first and second.

Gearrin then got Eduardo Perez to line to left to end the inning. The 23-year-old was making his eighth appearance with Mississippi and lowered his earned run average to 2.61.

"He's got an unusual, unorthodox delivery, and he's pretty harsh on right-handed hitters," Braves manager Phillip Wellman said. "He throws pretty hard with a ball that sinks, and he's got something that goes the other way with his slider. He's struggled a little bit against lefties, but he's making progress because it's forced him to develop his changeup."

Said Gearrin: "I didn't pitch quite like I wanted to, because I'd like to get a couple of more curveballs and changeups over, but it's an experience a lot of guys don't get to have, so I'm definitely thankful."

The Lookouts took a 3-2 lead into the sixth inning, where they broke the game open with three runs. With runners at first and second, pitcher Jesus Castillo faked the bunt before singling up the middle against a drawn-in infield to score Russ Mitchell and give Chattanooga a 4-2 lead.

Later in the sixth, Rose's infield hit brought home Tommy Giles, and a Braves throwing error to first allowed Castillo to score to make it 6-2. The Lookouts also had a three-run third, highlighted by Perez's two-run home run to right.

Scott Elbert (2-2, 3.77 ERA) is scheduled to start tonight's 7:15 game for the Lookouts, with Kyle Cofield (4-2, 3.34) scheduled for the Braves.