Barons Blank Braves in Series Finale

PEARL, Mis. - After being shutout the night before, the Birmingham Barons responded with one of their own in a 3-0 blanking of the Mississippi Braves Saturday night at Trustmark Park.

After leadoff singles from Nate Nolan and Luis Valenzuela, Damek Tomscha lined a bullet off the second base bag into center field that plated the first run.
One batter later, Gavin Sheets grounded a single to right field to score Valenzuela. After a mound visit, second baseman Ti'Quan Forbes singled to center and advanced to second on a throwing error. That last hit of the inning scored Tomscha to make it an early 3-0 Barons lead.
Tanner Banks was masterful Saturday night, throwing one of his best performances of the year. In his third quality start of the season, banks allowed just one hit and no runs in his season-high seven-shutout innings. He struck out five and only allowed one walk, as Banks came into the day owning the Southern League's lowest walk rate at 4.6 percent.
Combined with Luis Martinez's perfect two innings of relief, the Barons allowed only two baserunners on the night.
With the win, Birmingham took the series 3-2. The shutout was their eighth of the season and their first since July 23 against Chattanooga in a 1-0 win that day.
Forbes, a Columbia, Mississippi native, enjoyed his homecoming with a great series. In the five games, he amassed seven hits, two runs batted in and was a frequent thorn in the Braves side by getting on base early and often. With his single in the third, he tied his season-high hitting streak at six-straight games.
Sheets RBI single in the third extended his Southern League-leading total to 73. Sheets has already plated 12 more runs this season than his total in last year's campaign.
Oddly, the Barons won the series without hitting a home run in the five games. They have gone homer-less in six-straight games, their last longball coming August 10 against Montgomery.
This was the final 2019 regular season meeting between Birmingham and Mississippi. The Barons will end the season with a 6-4 edge in the 10 games between the two clubs.
Birmingham will return to Regions Field and begin a five-game series with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Sunday evening, starting at 6 p.m. CT. Right-hander Lincoln Henzman (3-6, 6.04) will toe the slab and make his 14^th start of the season.
WJQX-FM 100.5 will be the home of the Barons on Sunday. Fans can tune into the Coca-Cola Pregame Show starting at 5:45 p.m.
The Birmingham Barons are the proud Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. The Barons will open the home portion of their 2019 season, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of Michael Jordan's lone year in baseball, against the Tennessee Smokies at 7:05 p.m. April 10 at Regions Field. For ticket information, game schedule, promotions calendar or additional information about Regions Field, please visit barons.com or call (205) 988-3200.
Southern League Champions: 1906 • 1912 • 1914 • 1928 • 1929 • 1931 • 1958 • 1967 •1983 • 1987 • 1989 • 1993 • 2002 • 2013
33-Year Double-A Affiliate of the Chicago White Sox