The Chattanooga Lookouts were a good baseball team at the start of the month.
Thanks to the additions of shortstop Jake Lemmerman and right fielder Alex Castellanos, they've become even better. Lemmerman and Castellanos continued to bat second and third in the lineup Tuesday night at AT&T Field and combined for four hits and three RBIs as the Lookouts toppled Carolina 9-8.
Castellanos provided the difference in the eighth inning when his two-out double to left scored Elian Herrera with the go-ahead run, and he came home on a wild pitch and a passed ball to make it 9-7. Bill Rhinehart opened the ninth with a home run to right to account for the one-run margin.
"It was weird coming into a new team and meeting new guys," Castellanos said, "but I found out they were in first place and going to the playoffs, hopefully, so I'm just trying to help out the team any way I can."
Castellanos went 2-for-4 to improve his average to .340 in 14 games with the Lookouts. Lemmerman went 2-for-3 and collected his first Double-A home run to up his to .286 through four games in Chattanooga.
The Lookouts improved to 30-20 with 20 games remaining in the Southern League's second half.
"Alex has done a good job ever since he got here, and Lemmerman looks like he's settling in," Lookouts manager Carlos Subero said. "When you've got Corey Smith in the eight-hole and Kyle Russell in the seven-hole, you've got a strong team."
Castellanos arrived July 31 from the St. Louis Cardinals organization, where he was hitting .319 in 93 games with 19 home runs and 62 RBIs at Double-A Springfield. His hitting coach at Springfield was former Lookouts and Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman.
Lemmerman was promoted last Thursday from high Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, where he was hitting .292 in 103 games with 23 doubles and 54 RBIs.
Another Lookouts newcomer, starting pitcher Stephen Fife, wasn't as successful Tuesday, allowing six runs on eight hits and five walks. Fife arrived Aug. 3 from the Boston Red Sox farm system, where he made 18 Double-A starts and had an 11-4 record and 3.66 earned run average.
A Smith sacrifice to right in the fifth inning scored Hector Gimenez to give the Lookouts a 7-6 lead, but Carolina tied the game in the seventh on an RBI single to right by Yasmani Grandal.
Scott Van Slyke's two-run double to left-center in the third inning put the Lookouts up 4-2, but Cody Puckett's grand slam to left in the fourth provided Carolina a 6-4 advantage.
This is the final Carolina-Chattanooga series, which began in 1991, because the Mudcats are relocating next season to Pensacola, Fla. The Lookouts lead the series 192-178.
Michael Antonini (9-8, 3.82) is scheduled to start this morning's 11:15 game for the Lookouts, with Josh Ravin (0-0, 7.20) scheduled for the Mudcats.