Jacksonville Suns Stave Off Chattanooga Lookouts Rally for 6-4 Victory

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After scoring four runs in the second inning, the Jacksonville Suns (38-41, 5-4) held off a pesky Chattanooga Lookouts (40-39, 3-6) by trading late runs in a 6-4 Thursday night victory in front of 7,898 at the Baseball Grounds.

The Suns have won three straight games for the first time since winning four in a row from May 13 through May 16. In addition, it is the first three-game win streak against an opponent in a single series since taking the final three of a set against the Tennessee Smokies May 2-4.

Jacksonville opened the scoring in the second inning against Chattanooga ace Ben Jukich. Lucas May led off with a double while Shane Justis later recorded a single with one out. Adam Godwin next singled home May for a 1-0 lead. With runners on first and third base, pitcher B.J. LaMura bunted toward the mound, and after fielding and looking the runner back to third, Jukich pulled the first baseman off the bag with his throw to load the bases. James Tomlin next grounded a ball to third baseman Eric Eymann, who stepped on third for a force out, but threw wildly past first base, allowing Shane Justis to score for a 2-0 lead. Ivan DeJesus, Jr. next singled home LaMura and Tomlin before being thrown out at second to end the inning with a 4-0 Suns advantage.

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The Lookouts countered against Suns starter B.J. LaMura in the third inning as Tonys Gutierrez hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate pitcher Ben Jukich, cutting the Suns lead to 4-1.

Chattanooga scored another run against LaMura in the sixth inning on Chris Valaika’s fifth homerun of the season, a solo blast that further cut the Suns lead to 4-2. Jacksonville answered in the bottom of the inning against Lookouts reliever Lee Tabor as a James Tomlin groundout scored Adam Godwin for a 5-2 lead.

LaMura left after allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts over six innings, making way for reliever Danny Muegge in the seventh. With one out, the next three Lookouts singled to load the bases before a Sean Henry single scored Chris Denove to trim the deficit to 5-3. The Suns again countered right away in the bottom of the inning as Mark Bellhorn smashed his fifth homerun, a solo shot that landed on Georgia Street, opening a 6-3 advantage.

Chattanooga ended the scoring in the ninth inning against Suns closer Jacobo Meque, as Craig Tatum drove home Cody Strait for a 6-4 final score.

B.J. LaMura (2-2) picked up the win for the Suns while Ben Jukich (7-3) fell in the loss for the Lookouts. Jacobo Meque (1) saved the game for the Suns. Subscribe TODAY and use the code BMR for 50% Holiday Savings off of the $11.99 annual subscription price!!!