Barons Fall To Blue Wahoos In Season Finale

The Birmingham Barons finished off the 2014 season with a 4-3 loss against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos in front of a Labor Day crowd of 4,446 fans at Regions Field.

The Barons broke a scoreless tie in the fourth on an RBI triple by Rangel Ravelo scoring Tim Anderson from first base. Anderson finished 2-for-5 in the game and hit .364 in 10 games with the Barons this season.

Barons' starter Myles Jaye cruised through the first five innings without allowing a run. However, Pensacola would rally to tie the game at 1-1 in the sixth inning on an infield RBI single by Seth Meijan Brean.

Michael Earley put the Barons back in front in the bottom of the seventh inning with an RBI single to centerfield scoring Joey DeMichele from second base.

Pensacola took a 4-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning with three runs against reliever Nelvin Fuentes (0-3, 3.23). Travis Mattair brought home the first run with a base hit to left field scoring Brodie Greene and tying the game at 2-2. After a pair of walks, Fuentes was lifted in favor of Nestor Molina who promptly allowed a two-run single to Ray Chang.

The Barons mounted a rally in the ninth with Michael Early doubling home DeMichele with two outs, cutting the Pensacola lead to 4-3. However, Anderson struck out looking to end the game as the Barons finished the season with a record of 60-80 including a 31-39 in the second half while Pensacola improved to 60-80 on the year and 29-41 in the second half.

With Monday's attendance, the Barons drew a total of 437,612 for the 2014 season, the second-highest total in Southern League history. The Top-Five Southern League attendance seasons during the modern era (since 1964) are as follows:

 

Birmingham 1994 - 467,868

Birmingham 2014 - 437,612

Jacksonville 2004 - 420,495

Jacksonville 2006 - 404,992

Birmingham 2013 - 396,802

 

The total of 437,612 is the third-highest total in Barons history behind the 1994 and 1948 (445,926) seasons.