Shuckers can’t tame Smokies

The Biloxi Shuckers dropped their third straight game Thursday night, losing 10-4 to the Tennessee Smokies. A six-run sixth broke the game open for the Smokies, who improved to a league-best 27-19 on the season. The Shuckers fell to 25-22 and lost a share of first place from Pensacola.

Taylor Williams (L, 0-2) was sharp in his start for Biloxi, allowing two runs, one earned, in 3 1/3 innings. The righty struck out five batters and walked none over his outing, but departed trailing 2-0.

The Shuckers got a run back in the top of the fifth off starter Jen-Ho Tseng (W, 5-1) when Johnny Davis brought home Clint Coulter with a sacrifice fly. It would be the first of two runs batted in for Davis, who also drove in a run with a groundout later in the game.

After Josh Uhen delivered 1 2/3 shutout innings, Jorge Lopez entered to start the sixth inning. Making his first relief appearance of the season, Lopez allowed five runs on three hits in only a third of an inning to give the Smokies a 7-1 lead. They added another run off Bubba Derby later in the inning to extend their lead to 8-1.

The Shuckers got three runs back in the seventh on a Derby RBI single and two groundouts to bring the deficit to 8-4. But the Smokies would answer with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning, and escape a bases-loaded jam in the top of the eighth to squander Biloxi’s best threat.

Javi Salas made his 2017 debut in the eighth inning allowing a home run to make the score 10-4. David Garner pitched a perfect ninth to end the game for Tennessee.

Javier Betancourt had three of Biloxi’s ten hits, going 3-for-4 with a run scored, boosting his average to .295.