Barons End Final Road Trip with Convincing Win

KODAK, Tenn. - The longest nine-inning game of the season for the Birmingham Barons (61-70) was a blowout 11-3 win over the Tennessee Smokies (54-80) Tuesday night from Smokies Stadium.

With the win, the Barons closed out their final 2019 road trip with a series win against the Smokies. Starting at 7:00 ET local, the game lasted three hours and 52 minutes.
Trailing by a run in the second inning, Birmingham jumped out with a three-run RBI double from right fielder Joel Booker to clear the bases. One batter later, Luis González stroked a single to left center to score Booker and take a 4-1 lead.
Two innings later, the Barons tacked on three more runs with some small ball. Barons shortstop Zach Remillard started it off with a sac fly to score catcher Nate Nolan. Gavin Sheets grounded into the infield but the Smokies failed to turn a double play and Booker scored from third. Ti'Quan Forbes then stepped in and deposited a single to left field to score Gonzalez and make it a comfortable 8-1 lead.
Leading 10-3 in the seventh, Sheets lined a double to left for his second hit of the game and plated Remillard to make it 11-3. It was Sheets' second RBI of the game and extended his Southern League-leading RBI total to 81. He also pushed his team-leading multi-hit game total to 32.
Tennessee got on the board first with an infield, RBI single from right fielder Eddy Martinez to the left side. Remillard did a nice job to dive and keep it in the infield but had no play for an out and resulted in a Smokies 1-0 lead. They chipped in two more runs in the fifth inning.
It was a tough night overall for Smokies pitching. Starter Erick Leal lasted only three innings, allowing seven hits and eight runs before exiting in visible discomfort. Tennessee combined to walk 10 and hit two Barons at the plate, including a walk of Remillard with the bases loaded in the fifth to make it 9-1. The Barons drew 22 walks over the last two games of the series.
Meanwhile, Banks picked up his fourth win of the season and his third-straight. He struck out seven Tennessee batters over five innings and enjoyed solid innings of relief from Alec Hansen and Mauricio Cabrera.
Booker has enjoyed success of late, hitting safely in six of his last nine games and had his 15^th multi-hit game of the season Tuesday. On Tuesday, he finished 3-for-3 with two runs and two walks to go along with his three RBI.
He hit especially well against the Smokies this season, notching 10 RBI and 21 hits in 17 games against Tennessee pitching in 2019.
Every Baron reached base safely Tuesday, including multi-hit efforts from Sheets, Booker and Luis Basabe.
Birmingham will begin their final regular season series of the season Thursday, hosting the Biloxi Shuckers starting at 7:05 p.m.
WJOX-AM 690 will be the home of the Barons on Thursday. Fans can tune into the Coca-Cola Pregame Show starting at 6:50 p.m. CT.
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