Saturday Sept. 11, 2010
Posted: 9:25 p.m.
By Kevin Czerwinski
CSNChicago.com
CUBSTennessee AA
The Smokies continued their assault on West Tenn pitching Saturday night, cracking three more homers en route to a 9-2 victory at Pringles Park. Tennessee has a 2-1 series advantage in the opening round of the Southern League playoffs and will look to close out the series shifts back to Smokies Park on Sunday.
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The long-ball barrage was simply a continuation of Fridays Game Two victory in which Tennessee connected for four homers. The Smokies had 14 hits on Saturday and have banged out 30 in the last two games. Tony Campana led the charge in Game Three with four hits, including a lead-off homer in the first inning, and two RBIs.
Russ Canzler and Matt Spencer also went deep for the second consecutive night. Blake Lalli was 1-for-6 and drove in two runs, making it a rather easy evening for Trey McNutt, who was making only his fourth Southern League start. He had gone 0-1 with a 5.74 ERA after moving up to Tennessee from Daytona late in the season but had little trouble against the Diamond Jaxx, who handed him a loss in his Double-A debut on Aug. 23.
McNutt scattered four hits over five innings, striking out six and allowing a run before turning things over to Marco Carrillo. He allowed a hit and fanned five over three shutout innings to end any hopes of a West Tenn comeback.
James Leverton got cuffed around a bit in the ninth inning but it was proved to be of no account, leaving the Smokies a win away from competing for the Southern League crown.
WHITE SOXGreat Falls Rookie
The Voyagers rebounded from an opening-game loss to defeat Helena Saturday night, 6-2, at Centene Stadium, evening their Pioneer League playoff opening-round series at a game apiece. The third and deciding game will be played Sunday afternoon at Great Falls.
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Mike Earleys two-run single was the highlight of the four-run sixth inning that broke the game open for the Voyagers. Great Falls had rebounded from a 1-0 deficit, tying the score in the fourth inning before Ryan Hamme got the sixth-inning rally started with a lead-off double. Rafael Vera singled him in to put the Voyagers in front.
Dusty Harvard then reached on a error that put runners on the corners. He stole second and after a Kyle Davis walk, Earley singled in a pair. Ross Wilson then bunted home Davis.
Paul Burnside picked up the win after allowing a run over six innings. Doug Murray went the final three innings and despite giving up a run, earned the save.
Kevin Czerwinski can be reached at ktczerwinski@gmail.com.