Mobile, Ala. - The Jackson Generals, the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks, dropped their first series in the Second Half on Monday with a 6-5 loss to the Mobile BayBears.
Mobile, Ala. - The Jackson Generals, the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks, dropped their first series in the Second Half on Monday with a 6-5 loss to the Mobile BayBears.
The defeat comes in the final game for Jackson (41-34) at Hank Aaron Stadium, where Mobile (30-43) is 17-22 in their farewell season.
Pitching on five days of rest, Generals right-hander Riley Smith struggled to shut down a Mobile lineup that he held to one run back in May. The BayBears battled out of a three-run deficit in the first inning with a Brendon Sanger RBI single and a three-run homer by Jhoan Urena, nosing ahead 4-3. The 24-year-old Smith recovered and kept Mobile scoreless in the second, third, and fourth, but the fifth gave him trouble. A lead-off single and a one-out RBI double by Jack Kruger plated the Baybears' fifth run of the game, and two batters later, Smith was removed with the bases loaded.
A double-play induced by Miguel Aguilar kept the BayBears from doing more damage to Smith, who need 96 pitches to complete his shortest outing since April 8 at Jacksonville. He allowed nine hits in total, walking two men and striking out six. Aguilar carried the mail through the sixth inning without allowing a hit, and Cameron Gann (1-2, 3.00 ERA) did the same in the seventh. Gann allowed a two-out single in the eighth to Brandon Sandoval that led to his removal, but in Gann's place, Damien Magnifico allowed a run-scoring triple to Mobile's Bo Way that put the BayBears ahead for good. The Generals are now 5-8 in games decided in the last at-bat.
Offensively, the Generals climbed into the driver's seat with a 3-0 lead after the top of the first. The first four hitters all reached base, with an RBI single from Jeffrey Baez and an infield error allowing two runs to score. Mark Karaviotis drove in Jackson's third run on a sacrifice fly, but they had trouble scoring after that. Jackson put men on base in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings without profiting, but a lead-off homer by Ramon Hernandez in the sixth drew the visitors within a run at 5-4. The game-tying blow came in the eighth on a two-out solo shot by Jamie Westbrook off Mobile's Ryan Clark (1-0, 3.10 ERA). Clark steadied to get the last out of the eighth, and he retired the Generals in order in the ninth to secure the win. Baez, Hernandez, and Ryan Grotjohn all had multi-hit games, and Karaviotis drove in a run for his fourth consecutive game to begin his tenure with Jackson.
NEXT GENERALS GAME:
6:35 pm CT Tuesday (6/25) at Mississippi Braves
Trustmark Park - Pearl, Miss.
RHP Matt Peacock (3-2, 2.01 ERA) vs. LHP Joey Wentz (3-6, 5.51 ERA)
BROADCAST: Mississippi Braves Baseball Network
UP AND COMING AT THE BALLPARK:
June 30-July 3 vs. Montgomery Biscuits (AA, Tampa Bay Rays)
…featuring Jackson's Independence Day Celebration (July 3), with a special fireworks night!
The Jackson Generals, a West Tennessee franchise since 1998, are the Double-A minor league affiliate of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. The Generals play at The Ballpark at Jackson, Tennessee's 2017 & 2018 Pro Sports Field of the Year. Purchase your tickets to see the defending Southern League champions today by calling 731.988.5299 or visiting JacksonGeneralsBaseball.com.
