This was no unlucky 13th for Chattanooga Lookouts right fielder and cleanup hitter Blake Smith.
After his first dozen Double-A games yielded a grisly .147 batting average, Smith broke through Thursday night at AT&T Field. The 24-year-old Californian went 3-for-4 with four RBIs in leading the Lookouts to a 9-2 rout of Birmingham before a stellar crowd of 5,468.
Smith entered the series finale with just two RBIs.
“The jump to Double-A is a big jump, and everybody says the arms here are the closest to the big leagues that you can get, and I completely agree,” Smith said. “Guys get filtered out at every level, and you have to make adjustments all the time. That’s what this game is about, and I’m just working on it.”
Lookouts starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi worked only the first inning. Eovaldi appeared in 10 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, including six starts, and it’s no secret he’s expected back in the majors as soon an opening occurs.
“This was scheduled, so everything is good,” Eovaldi said. “I think it may have been just a blow for my arm.”
Smith, a 6-foot-2, 225-pounder, hit .294 with 16 home runs and 63 RBIs last season at high Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. His first homer with the Lookouts occurred with one out in the fourth inning, when a two-run blast to the trees past the wall in right-center put Chattanooga ahead to stay at 2-1.
“That swing was the first time this year where everything felt good,” Smith said. “I had good back spin on it and caught the ball where I should. I wasn’t out front. I wasn’t too far back. My timing was good. It was a good swing that felt great, and it was a big confidence boost.”
Said Lookouts hitting coach Franklin Stubbs: “He had been getting started late and wasn’t getting his front foot down in time, and he was missing a lot of fastballs. On that swing he got his foot down quicker, and when you do that, it gives you a better chance of attacking the ball.”
The Lookouts (7-8) took a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning, when Luis Nunez’s two-out triple to right-center scored Smith and J.T. Wise. Nunez came home on a throwing error during the play to make it 5-1.
Smith added a two-run single in the seventh inning to put the Lookouts up 7-2.
Jon Michael Redding replaced Eovaldi and allowed one run in four innings to pick up the win. Blake Johnson replaced Redding and also gave up one run in four innings.
Chris Withrow is scheduled to make his first start of the season tonight when the Lookouts begin a five-game series at Tennessee.