Chris Okey produced a stat line Wednesday night that he will never forget.
The Chattanooga Lookouts’ backup catcher was the 8-hole hitter in the series opener against Birmingham at AT&T Field. Okey entered having totaled three RBIs in his first 10 games, and he exited the 8-6 triumph over the Barons with 10 RBIs in 11 games.
A 3-for-4 showing with three home runs – his first three homers of the season – and seven RBIs helped the Lookouts turn a 6-2 deficit into a much-needed victory after a series in Biloxi, Mississippi, in which they won just once in five contests. Chattanooga improved to 23-21 with Wednesday’s win before an announced crowd of 2,122.
Okey’s first homer was a two-run blast to left field that gave the Lookouts a 2-0 lead in the second inning. A Luis Alexander Basabe two-run triple in the third ignited a Birmingham outburst that resulted in the Barons taking the 6-2 lead into the fifth.
That’s when Okey struck again with a two-run homer to left that pulled the Lookouts within 6-4. His third homer occurred in the sixth and was a three-run shot that put the Lookouts back ahead to stay.
Ibandel Isabel, who leads the Lookouts in homers, launched his 10th of the season in the seventh to make it 8-6.