Chattanooga’s offense had been slowed by Montgomery pitching in the last two Southern League baseball games at the Lookouts’ AT&T Field. But thanks in large part to Byron Buxton, there was no slowing the home team Tuesday.
A first-inning stolen base by Buxton was instrumental in him being able to score and put the Lookouts on top early. Then with a two-run lead, his grand slam in the fourth propelled Chattanooga toward a 10-3 victory that put an end to the two-game losing streak.
The North-leading Lookouts (24-15) lost four consecutive games from April 20 to 23 but otherwise have not lost more than two games consecutively.
The stolen base by Buxton, a speedy center fielder and leadoff batter, was his team-leading 11th and came after he lined a single to left field. He advanced to third when Jorge Polanco grounded out to second and scored on Miguel Sano’s groundout to shortstop.
“It was a 1-2 count, so I thought it might be a breaking pitch or something off speed,” Buxton said of the offering by Jared Mortensen (2-3). “I didn’t really see it. I got a good jump and just took off.”
Buxton said Chattanooga manager Doug Mientkiewicz and his staff had talked in the clubhouse about the team needing more activity offensively.
“He did it on his own,” Mientkiewicz said of the stolen base. “He was a lot more aggressive than he has been, and it showed.”
Buxton’s bat was what was aggressive through the strike zone when he drove a pitch high and far out to left for his fifth home run and first grand slam, he said, since he played at Cedar Rapids in 2013. Oddly, though he bats first, he leads the Lookouts with 29 RBIs.
Michael Gonzales topped Chattanooga’s 12-hit attack with three. He drove in one run and scored two.
Max Kepler was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored for the Lookouts, who scored in double figures for the seventh time this season.
“We just tried to come out, put some good swings on the ball, and we got a lot of base hits,” Buxton said. “That’s all you can ask for.”
Winning pitcher Greg Peavey (4-1) allowed seven hits and two earned runs in his seven innings of work. He did not give up a walk and had six strikeouts.
The final game in this five-game series is tonight at 7:15. Chattanooga starts a five-game series at Mobile on Thursday.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at sports@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.