Smokies denied Southern League Championship

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The Tennessee Smokies lost their final game of the season Wednesday night at Smokies Stadium,11-4, in Game 3 of the Southern League Championship Series to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. With the loss, the Smokies fell a game short of their first outright championship since 1978.

For the second consecutive night, the Smokies had an early lead that the bullpen coughed up. First baseman Nelson Maldonado drove in two runs to put the Smokies up 3-2 in the bottom of the third, a short-lived lead before Tennessee’s bullpen blew the game in the top of the fifth.

Pensacola took its first lead of the game on a grand slam from Cobie Fletcher-Vance against Blake Whitney (0-1). The Blue Wahoos put the game away for good with four runs in the top of the seventh, scoring three times off Bailey Horn.

As a team, the Smokies left nine runners on base, including six in the third through fifth innings, and at least one in six of the last seven frames. Cole Roederer hit his second home run of the postseason in the bottom of the eighth.

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