Home plate umpire Derek Mollica prepares to make the call as Chattanooga Lookouts shortstop Miguel Rojas (13) slides across home while Jacksonville Suns catcher Taylor Krick (31) applies a late tag Sunday at AT&T Field. The Lookouts beat the Jacksonville Suns 2-1 in a rain-delayed game that started on Friday, July 5. Rojas scored the decisive run.Chattanooga relief pitcher Garrett Gould was promoted to the Class AA Lookouts last Tuesday, so the only thing he knows about his new locale is to expect daily precipitation.
"I was in the California League for two years, and I saw it rain once," Gould said Sunday afternoon. "It's kind of hard to get used to."
Gould was the winning pitcher in Chattanooga's 2-1 triumph over Jacksonville at AT&T Field, which was a continuation of Friday night's contest that was suspended in the middle the fourth inning. The Lookouts and Suns were washed out completely Saturday night, so they tried to get in two games Sunday.
The Lookouts and Suns started their second contest, but it was still scoreless with two out in the fourth inning when heavy rain returned once again.
"We needed to get on the field," Lookouts manager Jody Reed said after the win. "It was a little shaky when we woke up this morning, but the skies cleared up. You can't control this. It is what it is, and you try to make the best of it, but you don't want to get too many games stacked up down the road.
"They are our next-to-last home series of the season, and it would be tough to have a lot of doubleheaders stacked up then."
Chattanooga and Jacksonville will resume Sunday's second game today at 5:15, and it will be followed by another seven-inning contest. The two teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader at AT&T on Aug. 19 to make up for Saturday's postponement.
The Lookouts were up 1-0 entering Sunday thanks to starting pitcher Chris Reed, who tallied nine strikeouts Friday in four scoreless innings. The Suns erased that deficit when Taylor Krick greeted Gould with a home run to left field to open the fifth inning, but Chattanooga went up 2-1 later in the fifth on a Matt Wallach single to right that scored Miguel Rojas.
Gould recovered by recording eight outs while allowing just one more hit, all the while with ominous skies looming beyond the outfield wall.
"It didn't really bother me," Gould said. "You just try to get locked in before you go out there, because if the rain stays away, you've got to be ready to play."
Rain arrived during the seventh-inning stretch, but it was never heavy enough to force a stoppage. That would not be the case in the second contest, which opened under blue skies before the rain arrived and quickly soaked the field.
Duke von Schamann (2-0, 3.00) is scheduled to start tonight's second game for the Lookouts, with Jay Jackson (2-6, 3.25) scheduled for the Suns.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.