Smokies Series Recap: Smokies Win the Series, but Fall Short of Playoffs

Written by Daniel Iverson

Knoxville, TN — The Knoxville Smokies took part in their final homestand of the season vs. Rocket City. Entering the series, Knoxville needed to win the series and get help from the Chattanooga Lookouts, who were facing off against the first-place Birmingham Barons. Knoxville came home for the series with momentum after winning five of six against the Barons in Birmingham.

Game 1: Rocket City gets the edge in a pitching battle

Both offenses were held scoreless outside of the 3rd inning when Rocket City separated with a run from RCT INF Ben Gobbel. The Smokies offense struggled to make contact at times, but Corey Joyce’s triple was a bright spot in the bottom of the 6th inning. Knoxville and Rocket City both compiled four hits in the contest.

Pitching was the storyline for this low scoring game. Tommy Romero got the start for the Smokies, allowing only one run through seven innings, the first time he had completed seven full innings since 2021. In relief, Evan Taylor and A.J. Puckett did not allow any runs with an inning a piece. On the other side for Rocket City, Walbert Urena went 6.2 innings, allowing zero runs and threw eight strikeouts, just his third scoreless outing of the season. The Trash Pandas won 1-0 over the Knoxville Smokies, but Knoxville didn’t lose any ground in the playoff race thanks to Chattanooga taking game one over Birmingham.

Game 2: Smokies bounce back in extra inning clash

After a two hour rain delay, the game finally started at 9:02 pm. With the delay, the game was set for only 7 innings of play. Wednesday's game belonged to the Smokies after a late explosion of runs. Similar to game one, runs were hard to come by early. Rocket City tallied a run in the top of the 2nd inning, behind David Mershon’s double that scored Matt Coutney. The next four innings would be scoreless.

The Smokies offense countered with a run of their own in the bottom of the seventh inning on Brett Bateman’s single scoring Jordan Nwogu. This crucial run forced the game to extra innings. Rocket City scored three runs behind a triple from Oscar Colas. However, Knoxville scored four runs in the eight to seal the victory. The Smokies sent eight batters to the plate and worked around three walks issued by the Pandas pitching staff. Due to starting catcher Casey Opitz being pinch-ran for in the previous inning and fellow catcher Pablo Aliendo in the DH slot, Ethan Hearn came down from the bullpen after seven innings to deliver the game winning single just before the stroke of midnight.

Game 3: Smokies shutout the Trash Pandas

The Smokies pitching was stellar for nine innings vs. Rocket City. It got started with Connor Schultz on the mound, who pitched for seven innings and did not allow a run. Schultz also threw eight strikeouts, limiting the Trash Pandas offense. Schultz picked up his first win of the season, and his seven innings with eight strikeouts were both career highs. Zach Leigh and Tyler Santana did not allow any runs or hits in their relief efforts.

The Smokies offense got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Pedro Ramirez hit a double that scored Carter Trice. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jordan Nwogu’s single scored Pedro Ramirez, extending the lead to 2-0. Ramirez scored his second run of the game in the bottom of the seventh. This stretched the lead to 3-0. Pedro Ramirez finished the night going 5-5, The Smokies had the advantage in the hitting category with 11 hits compared to Rocket City’s one. Knoxville took the lead and never looked back, winning 3-0.

Game 4: Knoxville sneaks by in extra innings

Similar to game two, this game saw extra baseball. Rocket City jumped to an early lead after Ryan Nicholson hit a two run home run in the top of the first inning. Knoxville responded in the bottom of the third inning with a 2 run home run from Corey Joyce. The Trash Pandas took the lead in the top of the fifth when David Mershon singled to knock Grant Kipp out of the game.

Knoxville tied the game up in the bottom of the ninth inning after Pablo Aliendo hit a solo home run. Just like the last extra inning, Rocket City took a lead in the top of the tenth when Ben Gobbel singled and scored David Mershon. Knoxville answered in the bottom of the tenth, when Brett Bateman brought in Jaylen Palmer to tie the game at 4-4 off of the bench. Later in the 10th, BJ Murray Jr. walked off the game with a single that scored Brett Bateman. Knoxville won the game 5-4 in 10 innings, marking their seventh walk-off win of the season.

Game 5: Smokies dominate from start to finish

Game five saw Knoxville separate early and finish the game strong offensively. Brett Bateman was able to get a run across in the bottom of the first inning. The Trash Pandas made a statement in the second inning, when Matt Coutney’s double scored two runs to give Rocket City a 2-1 lead. Knoxville quickly responded with five runs in the bottom of the second inning, giving Knoxville a 6-2 lead. The highlight of the five run scoring burst was Andy Garriola’s two run home run.

The Smokies were not done just yet, as they added one run in the fifth inning after Andy Garriola’s single scored Jordan Nwogu pushing the lead to 7-2.They followed that with another run in the seventh inning. Reivaj Garcia brought in Jordan Nwogu for that score making the score 8-2. The eighth inning was all Smokies, as Knoxville put up three more runs. Rocket City added one run in the ninth, but it was too little, too late. Knoxville defeated Rocket City 11-3. Although the Smokies won, due to Birmingham taking the win over Chattanooga, Knoxville was eliminated from playoff contention after Saturday night.

Game 6: Smokies extend winning streak to 5 games

The Smokies got an early start in Sunday’s series finale. In the bottom of the first, Knoxville racked up three runs. The runs were provided by Pablo Aliendo’s three run home run. The first inning concluded with a score of 3-0 in favor of Knoxville. The only other run in this contest would come in the fourth inning, as David Calabrese doubled and scored Ben Gobbel. Knoxville won game six with a score of 3-1.

The Smokies pitching staff came to play in game six. Yenrri Rojas started things off on the mound only allowing one run through four innings in his Double-A debut. The bullpen was outstanding in their five innings of work. This included Nick Hull, Zac Leigh, Evan Taylor, Mitchell Tyranski, and Tyler Santana. Zero runs were allowed by the relief arms.

Next Up

The Smokies won five of six games vs. Rocket City to secure the last home series of the season. However, with Birmingham winning, Knoxville was eliminated from the playoff race. Knoxville will wrap up the season with a series at Montgomery. For more information on the Knoxville Smokies—including game highlights, upcoming promotions, ticket info, and the latest news—visit smokiesbaseball.com or follow @Smokiesbaseball on IG, X, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

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