Jason Wheeler and Nick Burdi combined to pitch a two-hitter as the Chattanooga Lookouts began a Southern League road series against Birmingham with a 5-0 win Friday night.
Chattanooga leadoff batter Shannon Wilkerson was 3-for-3 with two walks and scored two runs. He singled after Heiker Meneses was hit by a pitch with one out in the third inning, and Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler followed with run-scoring singles for a 2-0 lead that carried into a rain delay.
The same four combined for another two-run inning in the seventh, Meneses reaching on a one-out error and Wilkerson walking ahead of another Polanco RBI single and a Kepler sacrifice fly.
Burdi pitched the last 2 2/3 innings without allowing a hit in getting a save; Wheeler is 4-2.
Game two of the five-game series in Birmingham is tonight at 7:30 EDT. David Hurlbut (9-6, 3.96 ERA) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Lookouts, with Matt Heindenreich (1-0, 3.75) scheduled for the Barons.