Tennessee Smokies starting pitcher Chris Archer allowed two walks, two hits and threw a wild pitch in the first inning. Chattanooga Lookouts counterpart Chris Withrow allowed two walks, two hits and hit a batter in the second inning.
Those hoping for a brisk Sunday afternoon game at AT&T Field were left sweltering.
In a season of long games at AT&T – the Lookouts continue to lead the minor leagues in the length of nine-inning contests played at home – Sunday’s was painfully prolonged. Pinch-hitter Steve Clevenger’s bases-clearing double to right-center with two strikes and two outs in the ninth inning finally catapulted Tennessee to a 9-6 victory in a slow burn that lasted three hours, 30 minutes.
“It felt great,” Clevenger said of his deciding shot. “This was a hot day, and the tempo of the game was really slow. Both pitchers kind of struggled, but that’s what can happen when it’s hot out.
“I knew I had to make the most of my one chance. It was late in the game.”
The Lookouts dropped their third straight to the Smokies and are now 21-28 with 21 games remaining in the Southern League’s second half. Tennessee won for the 10th time in 11 games and is now 33-17.
Sunday’s game was only in the top of the fifth inning when it reached the two-hour mark, and the heat index stayed in triple digits throughout.
“It was definitely hot, and everybody got kind of drained, but they were out in this, too,” Lookouts left fielder Jerry Sands said after going 3-for-4 and scoring twice.
Archer entered as the league’s hottest pitcher, having won six consecutive starts and owning a 7-1 record and an 0.58 ERA, but he struggled from the onset. Dee Gordon and Elian Herrera drew leadoff walks, with Gordon scoring on a Sands single and Herrera on an Eddy Perez single.
Tony Campana hit a two-run single for the Smokies in the second to tie the game, but the Lookouts went back up 3-2 in the third when Sands doubled to center, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a Perez sacrifice to right. Sands was a problem again for Archer in the fourth inning, drawing a bases-loaded walk that extended Chattanooga’s lead to 4-2.
That would be it for Archer, who on this afternoon was a human game delay, as his 91 pitches consisted of 47 strikes and 44 balls.
Yet Archer was quickly let off the hook in the top of the fifth inning, when the Smokies chased Withrow out of the game with four runs and took their first lead, 6-4. Campana, Brett Jackson, Blake Lalli, Matthew Spencer and Nate Samson each had singles in the fifth for Tennessee.
The Lookouts tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh inning when Kyle Russell’s triple off the center-field wall scored Sands.
Rubby De La Rosa (1-0, 0.36) is scheduled to start tonight’s 7:15 series finale for the Lookouts, with Rafael Dolis (3-2, 2.83) scheduled for the Smokies.