A ninth-inning home run by Kennys Vargas appeared to be simply the exclamation point on what was going to be a shutout victory for the Chattanooga Lookouts on Saturday night in Kodak, Tenn.
Vargas' solo shot turned out to be very much needed.
The Lookouts spread their scoring out - they picked up one run each in the third, sixth, eighth and ninth innings - and withstood a bottom-of-the-ninth rally to beat the Tennessee Smokies 4-3.
The Lookouts (53-42) avoided a third straight loss to Tennessee (51-46) after the Smokies won 4-1 Thursday to split a two-game series at AT&T Stadium before also taking an 8-4 victory in Friday's series opener at Smokies Park.
Vargas went 2-for-5 on Saturday, driving in two runs. In addition to the homer, he was credited with an RBI when Max Kepler scored on his groundout in the sixth. Kepler tripled to lead off the inning.
In the third, Niko Goodrum led off with a single, moved to third on Aderlin Mejia's line-drive single to right field and scored when Heiker Meneses grounded into a double play. In the eighth, Adam Walker led off with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on Stuart Turner's one-out single to center field.
David Hurlbut (7-4) got the win after pitching seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out five. J.T. Chargois held the shutout with a 1-2-3 eighth, but things got interesting in the Smokies' final go-around at the plate.
With Alex Muren on the mound, the Smokies used four hits and two walks to cut their deficit to a run, but Muren induced a popout and groundout with the bases loaded to end the game.
Chattanooga, which outhit Tennessee 10-8, was 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Mejia finished 2-for-4, Kepler and Meneses each had a triple and a walk and Walker and Marcus Knecht each had a double and a walk.
The finale in the three-game series is today at 5:05 p.m. Alex Wimmers (5-3, 5.28) is scheduled to start for the Lookouts, with Ivan Pinyero (6-5, 3.95) scheduled for the Smokies.