Keon Barnum, Michael Kopech Guide Barons To 3-1 Victory

BILOXI, Miss. - Keon Barnum tripled and blasted his 13^th home run of the season, while Michael Kopech gave up one run in six innings to propel the Birmingham Barons to a 3-1 victory over the Biloxi Shuckers on Friday night.
Both Kopech and Biloxi starter Jon Perrin kept the game scoreless through two innings, but then the Barons broke the scoreless tie, with two runs in the third and one in the fourth. 

Barnum began the third inning with his third career triple and first since June 14, 2014 and came around to score on a double by Alfredo González.
"Honestly I wasn't thinking three out of the box," Barnum said. "I thought it was a for sure double and I just saw him (third base coach Julio Vinas) waving me around and I just got on my horse and starting running."
Later in the inning, Eddy Alvarez bunted Gonzalez over to third and Jake Peter collected his second hit of the night to drive him home and push the lead to 2-0.
In the fourth, Barnum struck again, smacking a solo shot over the wall in right center field for a 3-0 lead, giving Kopech and the Barons bullpen all the run support they needed.
In his first start back from his appearance at the All-Star Futures Game in Miami on Sunday, the lone blemish on Kopech's record was a fourth inning solo home run of the bat of Clint Coulter, his 11^th of the season. The right hander gave up four hits and the one run, while walking two and striking out five for his fifth win of the season.
"It comes from the top (White Sox) that I need to throw more offspeed and that was working well," Kopech said of his outing. "For me, I like to compete, so I like to throw my best pitch, which is my heater. But, I know for my development I need to throw more breaking balls and changeups and I tried to incorporate that in tonight."
Departing after six, Kopech handed the ball to Thaddius Lowry, who tossed two scoreless innings, before turning it over to Connor Walsh, who locked down his first save of the season.
The Barons and the Shuckers will be back at it tomorrow evening at 6:35 p.m. CT for game three of a five game series. Left-hander Jordan Guerrero will get the ball for the Barons, while his counterpart will be right-hander Corbin Burnes for Biloxi. Curt Bloom will bring you all the action, starting with the Coca-Cola pregame show at 6:25 p.m. CT. The game can be heard on the iHeart Radio app and 105.5 WERC-FM.  
For ticket information, game schedule, promotions calendar or for additional information about Regions Field, call (205) 988-3200, or visit www.barons.com, www.facebook.com/birminghambarons or on Twitter: @bhambarons.