Smokies win thriller 5-4

D’Antona’s late inning heroics give Smokies series win The Tennessee Smokies defeated the Birmingham Barons 5-4on Thursday afternoon in front of 5,806 area school children at Smokies Park. The Smokies took advantage of a inside-the-park home run from designated hitter Jamie D’Antona in the bottom of the eighth inning to come away with the one run victory and a 3-2 series win. The home run was D’Antona’s ninth of the 2006 season and the Diamondbacks’ second round selection in the 2003 draft finished the day 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Birmingham got on the board early with two runs in the top half of the first inning before the first of two rain delays stopped the game. Designated hitter Corey Smith launched the first of his two home runs on the day forthe Barons scoring Ricardo Nanita who had singled one batter earlier. The Smokies grabbed one back in the bottom half of the inning when shortstop Alberto Gonzalez sent a solo offering to the right field berm to cut thelead to 2-1 in favor of the Barons. Trailing 3-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Smokies tallied two runs to knot the game at 3-3 on a two-run double from left fielder Phil Avlas that scored catcher Miguel Montero and D’Antona who had singled and walked earlier in the inning. Avlas finished the game 1-for-3 and is batting .395 in 14 games since joining Tennessee following the injury to Matt Morgan. Both teams traded runs in the seventh inning; Birmingham got on the board as a result of a wild pitch from Smokies reliever Matt Wilkinson but Tennessee tied it up in the bottom of the inning on outfielder Steve Garrabrants first home run of the season. Wilkinson worked a scoreless eighth inning to keep the Smokies in the game. D’Antona led off the inning with a deep shot to center field that appeared to ricochet off the top of the wall and jettisoned into left field. After rounding second base, manager Bill Plummer waved D’Antona home. A dropped relay throw by shortstop Robert Valido ensured the Tennessee designated hitter would make it home safely. The Smokies continue their 10-game home stand on Friday night against the Huntsville Stars with a 7:15 p.m. start time at Smokies Park. Fireworks follow the game courtesy of WIVK, WVLT-TV8, Pepsi and Miller Lite.