An Eight-Run Frame From Birmingham Cements Game 1 Victory Over Mississippi
The Birmingham Barons was able to hold on and knock off the Mississippi Braves in Game 1 of a six-game home stand against the opposition. The Barons beat the Braves by a final score of 10-6, as well as out-hit Mississippi 13-9. Birmingham executed from all phases in the ballgame
The Birmingham Barons was able to hold on and knock off the Mississippi Braves in Game 1 of a six-game home stand against the opposition. The Barons beat the Braves by a final score of 10-6, as well as out-hit Mississippi 13-9. Birmingham executed from all phases in the ballgame as both the batters and pitchers did what they set out to do.
In the ballgame the batters that shined for the Barons were Tyler Neslony and Chris Shaw.
Neslony finished the game 2-4 accounting for two runs, three RBI and a home run. The outfielder gathered all of his RBI in a three-run homer in the bottom of the third.
Shaw finished the game 2-4 with two runs, two RBI and a home run. The 29-year-old smashed his second home run in as many games and his sixth in the last two weeks.
The two performances from the plate combined for half of the runs the Barons were able to muster up. However, the most important performance of the night came from RHP Chase Solesky as he gained his second straight win in his 5.0 IP.
Solesky finished his outing allowing six hits, two earned runs and struck out five.
The right-hander dominated from the bump, but a balk on the mound by Solesky started the scoring in the game in the top of the second. Mississippi gladly took the free run; however, the Barons were quick to snag it back.
In the bottom of the second inning, Shaw sent his solo home run towering into the right-field batting cages to tie the ballgame at one. Shaw’s home run was not just a home run that pushed his season stats, it boosted the Barons to one of the most dominant innings they have had all year.
In the top of the third inning, Solesky sat down the Braves in order on a strike out, fly out and ground out. The dominance from the top of the inning flowed right into the bottom half as the Barons collected eight runs.
In the immaculate inning, Neslony got the party started with a three-run home run to snag the initial lead. The Barons were rolling as Yoelqui Cespedes and Shaw added to the lead with an error and an RBI-single, respectively.
The inning ended just how it started: A three-run bomb. This time the home run was hit by Xavier Fernandez. Fernandez finished the game 1-4 with a run, a home run and three RBI. The homer extended the lead to eight runs as the Barons sat up 9-1 in the third inning.
A couple innings later the Braves snagged another run in Solesky’s final inning of work. The right-hander has been stellar in his last three outings, collecting a win in two straight contests and a 1.63 ERA in the month of May.
Over the next two innings the Barons allowed Mississippi to sneak into the game a tad as the Braves collected four runs over two innings, compared to Birmingham only snagging one. The run by the Barons came off of a Luis Mieses double that scored Neslony.
Despite the late surge from the Braves, the Barons were able to hold on as RHP Caleb Freeman came and closed out the game. Freeman finished his lone inning sitting down the Braves in four batters, striking out one.
Birmingham captured the victory in a dominant performance against Mississippi. The Barons now with a two-game win streak send RHP Matt Thompson to the bump to try and extend it one more game.