SEVIERVILLE - It wasn't a good night to be a member of the Tennessee Smokies' bullpen.

Tennessee relievers Tyler Johnson and Matt Parker allowed seven runs in the seventh inning as the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx snapped a 2-2 deadlock en route to a 9-2 victory Friday night in front of 5,045 fans at Smokies Park.

With the loss, the Smokies fell to 22-20 in the Southern League standings while West Tenn pushed its worksheet to 23-18.

The Smokies tried to take advantage of West Tenn starter Sean Marshall's wildness in the second inning. After a single by first baseman Nate Espy, Marshall issued back-to-back walks to hot-hitting Chris Duncan and Gabe Johnson to load the bases with no outs.

Marshall, however, calmed down and retired the next three hitters in order to get out of the jam without a run being scored.

Meanwhile, Tennessee starter Jeremy Cummings cruised through the first three innings, facing just one batter over the minimum. However, he found trouble in the fourth.

With one out, Micah Hoffpauir singled to right-center for the first hit of the game and went to second on a walk to third baseman Matt Craig. A pair of wild pitches later, Hoffpauir crossed the plate and Craig was standing on third.

Cummings then walked Mike Druzilla and with catcher Geovany Soto, a double steal was executed by the visitors with Craig beating the relay throw back home to score the game's second run.

The Smokies finally dented the scoreboard in the sixth. Shaun Boyd led off the inning and reached base on an error in front of second baseman Corey Erickson's fourth homer of the season, a two-run shot to left center.

Cummings left after six innings in favor of Johnson (0-2). In the contest, Cummings allowed two runs on two hits while striking out six and walking four.

In the seventh, the Diamond Jaxx loaded the bases on singles by Mike Mallory and Ronny Cedeno along with Paul O'Toole reaching base on a fielder's choice. Johnson then plunked Aron Weston with a pitch, bringing in Mallory with the go-ahead run.

After the first out of the inning was recorded, Hoffpauir and Craig each belted a run-scoring single, forcing Tennessee to make a pitching change. Parker entered the game and wasn't much more effective, giving up two-run singles to Druzilla and Cedeno before getting out of the seventh.

Scott Chiasson (2-0) pitched one and two-third innings in relief of Marshall to collect the mound victory.

SMOKIES NOTEBOOK- Tennessee's Milko Jaramillo was 0-for-16 before collecting a single in the seventh inning. Jaramillo joined the Smokies last Sunday when infielder Javier Colina was placed on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.

Smokies' shortstop John Nelson missed his third consecutive game with a hand injury while outfielder Papo Bolivar was out for the second straight game with a sore shoulder. Both are considered day-to-day. For the season, Nelson is hitting .307 with 11 doubles, six homers and 20 runs batted in while Bolivar is at .311 with six homers and 16 RBI.

Bolivar was named the BC Powder Hitter of the Week and Brad Thompson was named the Pitcher of the week after his record-setting performance on Wednesday.

Brian Trent is a sports writer for The Morristown Citizen Tribune.