Chattanooga Lookouts first baseman J.T. Wise tries to pick off Montgomery Biscuits center fielder Brad Coon as he slides back to first during the final game of their series in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Thursday.Thursday night marked the halfway point of the Southern League's first half for the Chattanooga Lookouts.
If only they were all that easy.
Ethan Martin took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Lookouts set a season-high in run production in an 11-1 pasting of Montgomery at AT&T Field. The win did not erase a fifth consecutive series setback for the Lookouts (15-20), but the players departed for Mobile in better spirits.
"We've just got to keep fighting," Martin said. "Everybody knows that everybody is putting their hearts into it. We've got a great group of guys, and this is going to turn around."
Thursday's outcome marked a 19-point turnaround from Montgomery's 9-0 blanking of the Lookouts on Wednesday, which was Chattanooga's worst loss this season.
Martin, a 22-year-old right-hander from Toccoa, Ga., had his no-hit bid broken up with one out in the seventh by Kyeong Kang, who ripped a double to left-center field. He allowed another hit before finishing the seventh to improve to 4-0 while lowering his earned run average to 2.81.
The stellar night for the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder included seven strikeouts.
"I went out there and threw strikes," Martin said. "I let them put the ball in play, and the defense played great. It's what I stuck with."
Said pitching coach Chuck Crim: "He was making his pitches and getting ahead with his fastball. He just did an outstanding job."
The Lookouts were up 1-0 before blowing things open with four runs in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth. J.T. Wise singled to left field and Kyle Russell doubled to right to get the fourth inning going, and a two-run double to left by Nick Buss scored Blake Smith and Matt Wallach to make it 5-0.
"It all started with Ethan," Wise said after going 3-for-5 with two doubles.
The biggest downside to Thursday's throttling was that it wasn't witnessed by De Jon Watson, the farm director of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Watson watched the first four games of the series and offered his assessment of the team following Wednesday's debacle.
"I think the bullpen has been the strength of the club," Watson said. "The starters have gone out there and haven't really gotten deep in the games, but I think that will get better as we continue to progress. If you remember, last year we weren't very good in the first half.
"It just takes a little time, but these guys will get better as we continue to move forward during the season."
Aaron Miller (1-3, 6.41 ERA) is scheduled to start tonight's 8:05 EDT opener in Mobile, with Trevor Bauer (6-1, 1.96) scheduled to start for the BayBears.
Tolleson promoted
Lookouts relief pitcher Shawn Tolleson, who had a 1.38 earned run average in 11 appearances and a team-high five saves, was promoted Thursday to Triple-A Albuquerque. Taking his spot on the roster was Logan Bawcom, who went 1-1 with an 0.64 ERA in 12 appearances at high Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.