Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Foster/ The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 6/17/15
Chattanooga Lookouts second baseman Heiker Meneses waits for the ball as Jacksonville Suns’ Kenny Wilson slides safely into the base Wednesday at AT&T Field.The celebration has been placed on hold, as has the ability of the Chattanooga Lookouts to win at home.
With a chance to clinch their first Southern League North Division title since 2006, the Lookouts entered the seventh inning Wednesday night with a 3-0 lead only to lose 8-4 to the Jacksonville Suns. It was the sixth consecutive loss at AT&T Field for the Lookouts, who arrived home after a 10-2 road trip.
Jacksonville delayed Chattanooga’s champagne party with an eight-run seventh inning that was capped by Matt Juengel’s grand slam to left field off Jake Reed.
“It’s coming down to that one important game to clinch, but we can’t think about that,” Lookouts first baseman Max Kepler said while walking off the field. “The more you think about it, the harder it is, so we’ve just got to shut our brains off and put the ball in play. It didn’t work out today for us, so we’ll get them tomorrow.”
The Lookouts (39-25) need just one win over the Suns or one loss by the Tennessee Smokies (36-29) against visiting Mississippi in order to claim the North crown. The Smokies stayed alive Wednesday night with an 8-0 thumping of the Braves.