The Minnesota Twins lost their 10th straight game Sunday afternoon and have already assured themselves of not having a winning season.
It's a very different story with their Class AA affiliates, the Chattanooga Lookouts.
Chattanooga, which is playing a significant game daily, had its four-game winning streak snapped Sunday with a 5-4 loss to Mississippi at AT&T Field. The Braves rallied from a 4-0 deficit through four innings and forged ahead with two outs in the ninth on Ozzie Albies' triple to center field that scored Johan Camargo and Stephen Gaylor.
Albies went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and improved his batting average to .323.
The Lookouts dropped to 34-28 in the Southern League's second half and 70-62 overall. They need one more victory to clinch a winning season in their 140-game schedule.
"Our whole organization has been through hell and back this year with injuries and not having an established group in the big leagues," Chattanooga second-year manager Doug Mientkiewicz said Sunday, "and that made us have to make moves that we really didn't want to at the start of the season. We're mixing and matching the best we can with what we have, and it's good that we're playing meaningful games. You can use this as a grading tool down the road.
"This is not as strong of a league as we were in last year, and I think everyone is going through the same thing we are."
Despite Sunday's loss, the Lookouts have 12 wins in their past 17 games and very much in the playoff hunt. They trail Jackson and Montgomery in the North Division second-half race but are withing striking distance of a second-half title or a wild-card berth.
Chattanooga would reach the playoffs as a wild card if Jackson won both halves and the Lookouts had a better record overall than Montgomery.
"It's kind of an interesting situation with two other teams, but if we keep winning, we're going to put ourselves in a good spot," Lookouts third baseman Ryan Walker said. "Our pitching and hitting have kind of come together lately, and we're having fun playing. It's awesome to be a part of big games, and we want to keep doing what we've been doing."
The Lookouts have three more games against Mississippi before closing out the year in Jackson, where they are 2-8 this season.
Walker and Stuart Turner had RBI singles in the first inning to put the Lookouts up 2-0, and it became 4-0 in the fourth when Edgar Corcino's double to left scored Zack Granite and Tanner Witt. The Braves pulled within 4-3 in the eighth when Connor Lien tripled to center and scored on a Carlos Franco sacrifice.
"We've been grinding it out all year," Lookouts left fielder Travis Harrison said. "It's a long season, and the more consistent you can stay, the better off you're going to be. There are some interesting things that could happen, but if we play how we should, we should be all right."
Said Mientkiewicz: "We're on fumes right now, getting back from Jacksonville at 7 in the morning (Saturday), but we'll see what happens. We've got a shot."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.