In a tight game in which they were outhit soundly, the Chattanooga Lookouts needed every defensive play to stay alive against the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx Wednesday night.
They got all but one.
An eighth-inning error by Jaime Pedroza proved to be the difference, as the Diamond Jaxx were finally able to get past the Lookouts 3-2 at AT&T Field in front of 1,644 fans that braved the heat on the Dogs on the Diamond event night, in which owners were allowed to bring their canines to the game.
The contest was also a rare Wednesday night game, as most Lookout home games Wednesdays are played during the early afternoon.
Maurico Robles went six innings for the Jaxx and struck out six, but finished with no decision. Luis Munoz (4-4) got the win after pitching two innings of relief.
Jamie Miller (2-1) was charged with the loss for Chattanooga, who fell to 50-57 overall and 17-21 in the second half.
Pedroza’s error came in the same inning, however. Ranging to his left to field a grounder, the second baseman’s throw was high of Miller, allowing Scott Savastano to score from second. Right fielder Kyle Russell gunned down Carlos Triunfel trying to score from third.
The Lookout defense closed the door on many occasions during the game, turning three double plays.
“We definitely did some things right tonight,” Lookouts manager Carlos Subero said. “We had some valuable double plays and battled. We had a chance to win and put ourselves in a position, but got beat by an error. You don’t want to lose that way, but you can’t overlook the defensive effort we had tonight.”
The Jaxx scored in the fifth inning on a double by Johan Limonta and in the sixth on a single by Brandon Haveman. The Lookouts came back to tie the game on a two-run double by Trayvon Robinson in the bottom half of the inning – one of their four hits in the game to the Diamond Jaxx 13 hits.
“You have to credit Robles,” Subero said. “He had some good stuff – we tagged him for the two-spot in the sixth, but that’s the only thing he allowed.
“We just have to go out tomorrow, get a win and tie the series.”
The Lookouts will send Chris Withrow (3-7, 5.05) to start tonight at 7:15, while West Tenn will start Steven Hensley (7-9, 3.89) in the fourth game of the series.