Thompson unhittable in Smokies win

The only thing that could stop Keegan Thompson on Saturday was his pitch count.
The 10th-ranked Cubs prospect tossed five hitless innings in his season debut, striking out eight and walking one, as Double-A Tennessee edged Mississippi, 4-3, at Smokies Stadium.

Gameday box score
It was an encouraging start to 2019 for Thompson, who is entering his second full Minor League campaign and second with the Smokies. That's especially the case when you consider how his first stint with the team went.
"It felt really good, because last year in my first Double-A start I gave up eight runs in three innings," Thompson said. "So it was nice to have a better opening start."
Thompson hit the ground running, striking out the first batter of the game and getting another punchout to close out the opening inning. He was stellar the rest of the way, plunking Garrison Schwartz in the third and walking Braves No. 30 prospect Ray-Patrick Didder in the fourth. He closed out his night with back-to-back strikeouts to end the fifth.
Thompson compiled a 3.45 ERA across his first two seasons and had a 3.61 mark last year with Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach and Tennessee after becoming a full-time starter. He was sharp at Double-A after that rough debut, trimming his ERA from 24.00 to 4.06 by the end of the year.

The Smokies' no-hit bid ended shortly after Thompson exited, and they lost their one-run lead in the eighth on a wild pitch to spoil the chance of him picking up his first win of the season.
Tennessee pulled out the win. In the bottom of the eighth, Roberto Caro reached on a one-out bunt single and quickly moved up to second on an errant pickoff attempt. After he took on a fly ball off the bat of Christian Donahue, he dashed home as Cubs No. 2 prospect Nico Hoerner beat out a dribbler to shortstop.
So while Thompson may not have gotten the win himself, a Smokies victory was enough, especially one as exciting as this.
"It was awesome. It was a great team win," he said. "We got out early and they scored and tied it up in the eighth inning right there. But it was nice to come back and get the 'W.' I'll never be upset about that."