The Tennessee Smokies second half winning streak never got a chance to get rolling.
Jacksonville's Jose Alvarez took the bats out of the Smokies' hands Friday night as the Suns blanked Tennessee, 2-0.
Here is more on the game from the Tennessee Smokies:
The Tennessee Smokies were held to just two hits as they fell to the Jacksonville Suns, 2-0, on Friday night at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
In Tennessee's quickest game of the season (one hour, 59 minutes), Jacksonville starter Jose Alvarez (2-4) fired eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while fanning five to earn the win. The Smokies sent the minimum 27 batter to the plate as they fell to 1-1 in the second half and 36-36 overall.
For the second straight night, Jacksonville used a first-inning home run to open the scoring when Donnie Webb lifted the second pitch of the inning over the right field wall to give the Suns a 1-0 edge. Chris Gutierrez' solo homer in the fifth inning capped the scoring.
Tennessee starter Dae-Eun Rhee (4-3) suffered the loss, yielding two runs on six hits over seven innings. Rhee walked four batters and struck out a pair.
The Smokies and Suns play the middle contest of their five-game series on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. when Tennessee sends right-hander Dallas Beeler (2-5, 4.32 ERA) to the mound while Jacksonville counters with righty Bryan Evans (2-4, 2.90 ERA).