Smokies home after extended road trip

Organization honors its top minor leaguers of the month After more than a week of living in motel rooms, the Tennessee Smokies will sleep in their own beds and return to the friendly confines of Smokies Park, beginning with a series with the Birmingham Barons. Tennessee sent Micah Owings to the mound in Sunday’s opener against the Barons and is scheduled to start Adam Bass in Monday’s business man’s classic with first pitch slated for 11:30 a.m. The Tennessee-Birmingham match-ups for Tuesday and Wednesday are also scheduled for midday starts. The Smokies will see their share of left-hand pitching this week against the Chicago White Sox Southern League farmhands. The Barons boast four southpaws in their starting rotation, led by ace Lance Broadway, who is pegged to face Bass in Monday’s second game of the series. Birmingham (14-16) will test the Tennessee pitching staff. First baseman Corey Smith is among the Southern League leaders in all of the Triple Crown races, and shortstop Robert Valido poses a threat to steal any time he reaches base. The Smokies (13-17), meanwhile, are probably just happy to be home after a 10-game road trip. Second baseman Danny Richar is perhaps the lone Tennessee bright spot after a rough trip to Chattanooga. Richar’s hitting average is on the rise, having climbed to over .300 during the Chattanooga trip. Diamondbacks hand out monthly honors for April The Arizona Diamondbacks announced today that catcher Miguel Montero and righthanded pitcher Matt Chico have been named the organization’s minor league Player- and Pitcher-of-the-Month for April. Montero, 22, owned a .297 average (22-for-74) in April, including 6 doubles, 5 home runs and 20 RBI for the Tennessee Smokies (AA – Southern League). His RBI total was tops among D’Back farmhands, while his 5 home runs ranked second. His month also included a .581 slugging percentage and a .418 on-base percentage. A native of Venezuela, he signed with Arizona as a non-drafted free agent on April 23, 2001. Montero also won Player-of-the-Month honors in May 2005. Chico, 22, went 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA in 5 starts during April for the Lancaster JetHawks (A – California League). He limited the opposition to a .185 average (20-for-108), while recording a farm system best 31 strikeouts and only 6 walks in 29.1 innings of action. He was Arizona’s 3rd-round selection in 2003 draft. This was the third time Chico has been named the farm system’s Pitcher-of-the-Month, having previously received the honor in April 2004 and July 2005.