Jacksonville stalls Lookouts' title hopes

Suns' eight-run seventh inning puts Lookouts' title celebration on hold

Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Foster/ The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 6/17/15
Lookouts first baseman Max Kepler makes the catch as Jacksonville Suns' Carlos Lopez heads back to first Wednesday at AT&T Field.
Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Foster/ The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 6/17/15 Lookouts first baseman Max Kepler makes the catch as Jacksonville Suns' Carlos Lopez heads back to first Wednesday at AT&T Field.
photo Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Foster/ The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 6/17/15 Chattanooga Lookouts second baseman Heiker Meneses waits for the ball as Jacksonville Suns' Kenny Wilson slides safely into the base Wednesday at AT&T Field.

The celebration has been placed on hold, as has the ability of the Chattanooga Lookouts to win at home.

With a chance to clinch their first Southern League North Division title since 2006, the Lookouts entered the seventh inning Wednesday night with a 3-0 lead only to lose 8-4 to the Jacksonville Suns. It was the sixth consecutive loss at AT&T Field for the Lookouts, who arrived home after a 10-2 road trip.

Jacksonville delayed Chattanooga's champagne party with an eight-run seventh inning that was capped by Matt Juengel's grand slam to left field off Jake Reed.

"It's coming down to that one important game to clinch, but we can't think about that," Lookouts first baseman Max Kepler said while walking off the field. "The more you think about it, the harder it is, so we've just got to shut our brains off and put the ball in play. It didn't work out today for us, so we'll get them tomorrow."

The Lookouts (39-25) need just one win over the Suns or one loss by the Tennessee Smokies (36-29) against visiting Mississippi in order to claim the North crown. The Smokies stayed alive Wednesday night with an 8-0 thumping of the Braves.

Lookouts starting pitcher Brett Lee worked six scoreless innings before giving up two singles in the seventh and being replaced by Nick Burdi. Terrence Dayleg welcomed Burdi to the game with a double to left that pulled the Suns within 3-2, and a Chadd Krist infield single tied the game.

Austin Nola gave the Suns the lead by drawing a bases-loaded walk, which resulted in Burdi being replaced by Reed.

"Brett Lee was throwing a heck of a game," Lookouts pitching coach Stu Cliburn said. "With the heat and stuff, he was up to 82 pitches, so we got him out of there. We went with our bullpen, and it didn't work out for us tonight.

"We didn't come in and throw strikes. We left some mistakes up in the zone, and they capitalized on it. They're a good-hitting team, so we've got our work cut out for us."

The Lookouts struck first in the second inning, when Kepler led off with a triple to right and Adam Walker followed with a single to right. Walker advanced to third on a Mike Gonzales double to right and scored on a Stuart Turner groundout to make it 2-0.

Chattanooga extended its lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning when Niko Goodrum doubled to right and scored on Kepler's single to center. Kepler went 4 for 5 with two RBIs and raised his season average to a team-high .331.

"I had forgotten that we had lost so much at home before we left," Kepler said. "It's baseball, and there will be ups and downs. I'm glad we won as much as we did on the road."

David Hurlbut (2-2, 5.14) is scheduled to start tonight's 7:15 game for the Lookouts, with Jake Esch (5-3, 2.71) scheduled for the Suns.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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