Back-to-back Wins Give Smokies Momentum Entering Home Finale, Playoffs

The Knoxville Smokies entered the weekend at Covenant Health Park looking to shake off one of their ugliest home losses of the season and responded with back-to-back wins over the Chattanooga Lookouts on Sept. 4 and 5.

Friday, Sept. 4: Smokies right fielder Alex Ramirez wasted no time Friday, blasting a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. The Lookouts responded with a run in the top of the second frame, and both teams traded runs through the middle innings.

The Smokies went into the bottom of the sixth inning down 3-2 and exited the inning ahead 5-3. Knoxville added two runs in the seventh inning and another in the eight, finishing the game with an 8-3 win.

Saturday, Sept. 5: Ramirez got the scoring started again Saturday with a two-run double in the fourth inning. The score remained 2-0 until the eighth, when left fielder Carter Trice added an RBI double. Trice then stole third and scored on a Chattanooga throwing error as the Smokies pulled away for a 4-0 win.

Upcoming games, promotions at Covenant Health Park

Knoxville is ahead 3-2 in the series after winning Friday and Saturday. The Smokies have just one regular season game remaining at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6. The first 500 children through the gates at Covenant Health Park will receive a free squeezable cube.

Smokies record in the Southern League North

The Smokies have already clinched a playoff spot by capturing the first-half title and are in first place in the Southern League North.

Southern League North standings

1. Knoxville Smokies (32-29 second half, 70-60 overall)
2. Rocket City Trash Pandas (31-30 second half, 66-63 overall)
3. Birmingham Barons (31-30 second half, 58-73 overall)
4. Chattanooga Lookouts (21-41 second half, 57-73 overall)

Southern League South standings

1. Pensacola Blue Wahoos (39-22 second half, 75-55 overall)
2. Columbus Clingstones (33-29 second half, 62-64 overall)
3. Montgomery Biscuits (32-29 second half, 67-63 overall)
4. Biloxi Shuckers (26-35 second half, 61-65 overall)

Ryan Wilusz is the business growth and development editor for Knox News. Email: ryan.wilusz@knoxnews.com; Cell: 865-317-5138; Instagram: @knoxscruff.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Back-to-back wins give Smokies momentum entering home finale, playoffs