Sanders strikes out six, bullpen tosses four scoreless in victory
SEVIERVILLE, TN – The Tennessee Smokies’ (38-48) offense exploded Sunday afternoon in a 12-3 win over the Rocket City Trash Pandas (44-43) at Smokies Stadium. Chase Strumpf finished 2-for-4 with a double, home run, and four RBI, while Cam Sanders struck out six to earn his fourth win of the season.
Tennessee jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Smokies loaded the bases, then with two outs, SS Carlos Herrera committed an error that led to a run. Tyler Payne followed with a two-run single.
Herrera would help make up for his error in the second inning, cutting Tennessee’s lead to 3-1 on a solo home run off Sanders. The Smokies added to their lead in the third inning when Strumpf hit a two-run home run, to make it 5-1.
Rocket City answered in the fourth inning, cutting Tennessee’s lead to 5-2 when David MacKinnon scored from first on Ray-Patrick Didder’s two-out double. The Smokies played small ball to get the run back in the bottom half of the fourth. D.J. Artis singled, stole second base, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on Nelson Maldanado’s RBI infield hit.
The Trash Pandas looked poised for a big fifth inning, scoring a run and putting runners on second and third with no out. Smokies’ starter Cam Sanders got Brendon Davis to fly out to right field and Tennessee’s Brennen Davis threw out the tagging Luis Aviles Jr. at the plate.
The Smokies broke the game open with a five run seventh inning. Balego hit an RBI single, then Strumpf followed with a two-run double. After an error moved Strumpf to third, he scored on Christopher Morel’s sacrifice fly. Maldonado was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 11-3. Morel hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to round out the scoring.
Four different Smokies had multiple hits. Strumpf led the way with four RBI, while Morel and Payne both drove in two. Strumpf’s home run was his sixth, Morel’s was his 13th. The Smokies bullpen allowed just two hits over four scoreless innings in relief of Sanders.
The Smokies begin a series with the Birmingham Barons Tuesday night at Smokies Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 7 PM. Fans can hear all Smokies games by going to https://www.milb.com/tennessee/fans/audio-listen-live.
Tuesday night at Smokies Stadium is Taco Tuesday. Tickets for the entire Birmingham series are available and can be purchased online, over the phone, or by visiting the box office.
ABOUT THE TENNESSEE SMOKIES
The Tennessee Smokies are the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. Members of the eight-team Double-A South League, Smokies baseball has been entertaining families and fans of America’s national pastime in the East Tennessee region for over 100 years. To learn more about the Tennessee Smokies, visit www.smokiesbaseball.com.
