Barons Beginning, Middle, & End Up Losing 3-2 

Friday night's battle between the Barons and Smokies displayed some spacious, drawn-out baseball. Throughout the night, neither side definitively dominated nor garnered commanding control of the game. With such a low-scoring game, pitching fired on all cylinders. Specifically, Sean Burke for Birmingham and D.J. Herz for Tennessee pitched admirably. The story of the night for the Barons ended up being a leash slightly too long, while the bats only showed up at the beginning and the end.

Magic City rapidly forced the issue thanks to a Jose Rodriguez walk and Oscar Colas getting plunked. That said, Colas remained on the ground for quite some time before eventually rubbing some dirt on it and staying in the ballgame. Granted, his day ended after the frame. A move beforehand might've paid dividends, too, since Raudy Read ripped his third double in the gap, which might've scored J.J. Muno. However, with Colas running, Justin Jirschele held him at third. And, with just one out, Birmingham failed to cash in either one of those runners.

With an early lead, youngster Sean Burke rode the momentum to a solid first four innings. Specifically, the 22-year-old surrendered just two singles while punching out five Smokies. To that extent, if his night ended right there, it'd have been a significant turnaround from his recent struggles. However, Jirschele let the big hurler go out there in the fifth and almost immediately regretted it.

Christian Donahue smoked his first double of the season on the very first pitch. Then, Bradlee Beesley singled into left-field, and Yonathan Perlaza walked, thereby loading the bases with nobody out and ending Burke's night. In his place, the Barons' best reliever, Felix Paulino, entered and suffered from seeing-eye singles. Quickly, the Barons' one-run lead flipped into a two-run deficit as the Smokies took a 3-1 lead.

Although the Barons boast the Southern League's best offense, their bats have been relatively quiet lately unless Raudy Read or Oscar Colas pops off. Also, D.J. Herz deserves appreciation, as, after the first, he calmed down and ended with a final line of 5.0 IP, 1 H (Raudy Read's double in the first), 1 ER, 4 BB, and 5 SOs. Fast forward past the 38-minute rain delay, and we're heading into the ninth inning, still down two runs.

Yoelqui Cespedes sparked everything with a lead-off, first-pitch double. Then, Craig Dedelow draws a pinch-hit walk. Evan Skoug roped a double in the gap but not deep enough to score Dedelow from first, despite his enormous strides. After a D.J. Burt strikeout, Tennessee intentionally walked Jose Rodriguez to face J.J. Muno with the bases juiced but left fans hanging by too striking out.

The 3+ hour 3-2 loss comes in such unfortunate circumstances as Sean Burke handled his own, and the Barons' bullpen dominated, allowing zero runs on three hits. Nevertheless, the Barons fall back into third place but still have the chance to climb back into first this weekend.