Chattanooga's hopes for a third consecutive victory at AT&T Field were dashed in a hurry Thursday night.
The Montgomery Biscuits pounced for four runs in the first inning and defeated the Lookouts 6-1 in the series opener before an announced crowd of 4,294. Chattanooga starting pitcher D.J. Baxendale was rocked out of the gate by a Johnny Field single to left field, a Kean Wong RBI double to center, a Jake Bauers RBI single to center and a Willy Adames RBI triple to right.
Chattanooga pulled within 4-1 later in the first when a Field error on Travis Harrison's drive - originally called a double - allowed Daniel Palka to score, but Wong put the Biscuits back up by four in the second inning with a home run to right-center. The Biscuits maintained a 5-1 lead until the ninth inning, when they capped the scoring on a Field double to center that scored Juniel Querecuto.
Palka continued to surge for the Lookouts (8-13), going 2-for-2 to improve his average to .356. He is 11-of-13 in his last four games.
The Lookouts experienced several moves before Thursday's opener, including the promotions of starter Jason Wheeler and reliever Alex Wimmers to Triple-A Rochester (N.Y.). Wheeler, the MVP of last September's Southern League title series, was 1-1 with a 1.88 earned run average through his first four starts this season.
Wimmers was a first-round pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2010 out of Ohio State.
Joining Chattanooga was reliever Mason Melotakis, who sat out last season after going 3-1 with a 3.45 ERA in 25 games for Fort Myers in the Florida State League.
David Hurlbut (1-1, 5.84 ERA) is scheduled to start tonight's 7:15 game for the Lookouts, with Jake Faria (0-2, 5.24) scheduled for the Biscuits.