Down on the Farm: Kris Bryant leads Smokies to another ‘W’

Tennessee 10 – Jackson 7

A six-run third inning was enough for the Tennessee Smokies to hold off the Jackson Generals’ late rally attempts on Tuesday night, and the Cubs’ Double-A affiliate plated three insurance runs of their own in the final two innings to seal the deal.

Scoring in that big third inning started with an RBI double off the bat of infielder Stephen Bruno, who had been red-hot of late, and is now hitting .317 on the year after his 4-for-5 night on Tuesday. Bryant followed with a three-run blast later in the inning, his 11th on the season.

An RBI double by Rubi Silva and a ground ball single by Jae-Hoon Ha added the two final runs of the frame, giving Tennessee pitching plenty to work with – although, at times, Jackson appeared poised to challenge the Smokies for the lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Generals hung a four-spot on the board, thanks to an RBI single, a bases-loaded walk, a sacrifice fly and a fielder’s choice ground ball. Heading to the fifth, the Smokies held on to a 6-4 advantage.

In the sixth, Bryant added an RBI single on a liner to center field, to make it 7-5. Taylor Davis hit his first of two doubles on the night in that frame, as well, which pushed the lead to 8-5. Bruno added an RBI single in the top of the eighth and Davis’ second double in the ninth made it a 10-5 ballgame.

Jackson plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth off reliever Armando Rivera, but he was able to close the door and preserve Tennessee’s lead.

With the win, the Smokies improve to 23-16 on the season, while the Generals fall to 16-23.