KNOXVILLE – Balls were flying out of Covenant Health Park right and left Thursday night as the Knoxville Smokies downed Chattanooga 4-1.

The Lookouts actually out-hit the Smokies 9-3 in the contest but the three hits were all homers by Jefferson Rojas, Owens Ayers and Andy Garriola. The fourth Knoxville run came in the seventh when Rojas drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in Edgar Alvarez. Chattanooga’s lone run was also a dinger, hit by Pablo Aliendo in the top of the fourth inning.

Dawson Netz moved to 4-1 on the season as he struck out seven Lookouts batters in five innings. Marino Santy earned his fifth save of the season. Javi Rivera (0-4) took the loss for Chattanooga.

The two teams enter the weekend series tied for the lead in the Southern League North standings at 36-30. On the other side of the league, Biloxi has a one-game lead on both Montgomery and Pensacola in the South division.

(Tuesday) Lookouts 5, Smokies 3

KNOXVILLE – Chattanooga built a 5-0 lead through the first six innings and then survived a Knoxville rally as the Lookouts downed the Smokies 5-3 Tuesday night.

Pablo Aliendo’s two-run home run in the sixth put the Lookouts firmly in front at 5-0.

The Smokies started their comeback in the home half of the sixth when Alex Ramirez left the yard on a solo shot.

Ariel Armas’ single brought Owen Ayers and Jefferson Rojas around to score to make it 5-3. That was as close as Knoxville could get, however, as the Lookouts moved into a first-place tie in North standings.

Smokies starter Connor Schultz had six K’s in 4.2 innings of work but he is still looking for his first win of the season as he drops to 0-3. Evan Taylor had five strikeouts for Knoxville and Tyler Ras added two more. Easton Sikorski (1-1) picked up the win and Johnathan Lavallee notched his sixth save of the season.

(Wednesday) Lookouts 5, Smokies 2

KNOXVILLE – Chattanooga pitcher Johnathan Harmon kept Knoxville’s bats at bay Wednesday night as he fanned six Smokies batters and yielded only four hits in seven innings to help lead his team to a 5-2 victory.

After Bryce Hubbart pitched the eighth inning, Will Cannon closed things out in the ninth to pick up his fifth save of the season. Hubbart now stands at 7-2 this season. Frankie Scalzo (1-1) took the loss for Knoxville.

The Lookouts jumped out to a 3-0 lead with one swing of Cam Collier’s bat in the top of the second inning as his eighth homer of the season scored Ryan McCrystal and Ruben Ibarra.

The Smokies got on the board in the third when Jefferson Rojas singled in Hayden Cantrelle. Alex Ramirez scored when Andy Garriola hit into a double play.

Chattanooga added a run in the fourth when Julio Carreras hit a sac-fly to left that brought Zavier Warren in and Ruben Ibarra drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to score Carlos Jorge which was the final run of the contest.