Double-A Chattanooga erupts for Minor League-high 29 runs
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If you were to Google "complete offensive performance," the Chattanooga Lookouts might well have earned the top result.
The Reds' Double-A affiliate put on an absolute clinic on Thursday, scoring more runs than it recorded outs, in a 29-3 drubbing of Rocket City.
By the second inning, they had already scored a season-high 15 runs.
By the end of the game, they set a Southern League scoring record.
In all, it was the most runs scored in a Minor League game since the DSL NYY Yankees scored 32 on June 27, 2022. And it was by far the best outing of 2023, as the previous leader Sugar Land's 24 runs on May 7 look comparatively paltry.
Chattanooga's performance was well-rounded almost to the point of comedy. All nine hitters reached base at least three times, thanks in large part to drawing 19 walks.
With such clogged basepaths, the Lookouts managed to score a run in almost every conceivable way. They added runs on six singles, a double and four home runs, including a pair of grand slams. They even plated runners on three walks, a sacrifice fly, three forceouts, a groundout and a wild pitch.
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Plenty of Lookout players had nights to remember, but none had a bigger game than designated hitter Andrew Yerzy. The 2016 second-round pick, who just turned 25 the day before, went 4-for-5 with two walks, a pair of home runs and a career-high nine RBIs.
Yerzy's ninth-inning grand slam officially set the Southern League single-game scoring record, but that may not even have been his most exciting part of the game. Up 26 runs, Chattanooga manager Jose Moreno didn't want to burn another reliever in the ninth and called on Yerzy for the final frame.
Yerzy had been called upon to pitch once before in his pro career -- he pitched a scoreless frame in September 2022 for Double-A Amarillo -- and kept his ERA at 0.00 while picking up two strikeouts.
Of course, this isn't the only notable game to take place between these Southern League teams this season. When they met for the second game of the season, Rocket City no-hit Chattanooga -- but lost when it gave up seven runs in the ninth on walks, an error, a hit by pitch and a wild pitch.