Ortega, Shuckers win sixth straight

The Biloxi Shuckers beat the Chattanooga Lookouts 5-4 in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon to win their sixth straight game and claim a half-game lead over Pensacola in the Southern League's South Division.

Angel Ortega played the role of hero for the second straight day, hitting a walk-off single in the 10th inning to give Biloxi the win.

The Lookouts got to Shuckers starter Luis Ortiz in the first, using a Nick Gordon double and an RBI sacrifice fly from Jonathan Rodriguez to take a 1-0 lead. Ortiz would recover to put up zeroes in the second, third, and fourth innings, but left with two outs in the fifth after a LaMonte Wade double made the score 4-0.

Lookouts starter Matt Tracy was able to protect the lead through the early innings, pitching hitless ball through four innings and shutout ball through five. But the Shuckers would finally breakthrough in the sixth with a two-out RBI single from Michael Reed to draw within three runs.

In the seventh, a looping liner from Javier Betancourt glanced off the glove of right fielder Edgar Corcino turned into a leadoff triple. Jacob Nottingham then brought him home with a leadoff single to make the score 4-2. After Tracy got two outs, Wendell Rijo hit a single to bounce him from the game.

Clint Coulter was tasked with facing hard-throwing righty Nick Burdi, but he singled through the left side to score Nottingham and Rijo and tie the game 4-4.

Bubba Derby delivered 3.1 innings of shutout relief, and gave way to Tayler Scott (3-2) in the ninth. Scott pitched the ninth and the tenth innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four to lower his ERA to 2.36.

After squandering an opportunity in the ninth, the Shuckers put pressure on Raul Fernandez (1-1) in the tenth. Reed and Betancourt singled with one out, and Nottingham was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ortega then lined a single to center to give the Shuckers their third walk-off win of the season at MGM Park.

The Shuckers are a league-best 14-6 during the month of May and 6-3 on the current homestand. The club improved their record to 4-2 in extra-inning contests.

The Shuckers and Lookouts wrap up their season series at 6:35 p.m. Monday night at MGM Park.The Shuckers are looking for their second five-game series sweep of the season. RHP Aaron Wilkerson starts for the Shuckers against RHP Felix Jorge.

This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Ortega, Shuckers win sixth straight."