Birmingham Get First Shutout Victory in 6-0 Final Against Rocket City
The Birmingham Barons have now put together a two-game win streak with their latest coming in a 6-0 victory over the Rocket City Trash Pandas. In the victory, the Barons collected seven hits, one error and used a mere three pitchers. The dominance from Birmingham was something that they have
The Birmingham Barons have now put together a two-game win streak with their latest coming in a 6-0 victory over the Rocket City Trash Pandas. In the victory, the Barons collected seven hits, one error and used a mere three pitchers. The dominance from Birmingham was something that they have not seen thus far in the 2023 season as they were 0-3 in shutouts coming into Thursday’s contest.
The Barons, also, came into the contest on a high after breaking their longest losing streak of the season. The added confidence from getting another notch in the win column got the Trash Pandas a tad nervous as early mistakes gave the Barons the lead.
In the top of the second inning Birmingham capitalized on a wild pitch that was caused by Taylor Snyder heading for second-base. The steal from Snyder caused a miscue for the Trash Pandas, and in the scrum for the ball, Xavier Fernandez scored from third-base.
Birmingham capturing the lead was a momentum shift for the offense, as well as for the pitchers on the mound.
Starting RHP Chase Solesky pitched a stellar 4.0 IP in tonight's dual. Solesky, while keeping the opposition off the scoreboard, finished his night allowing four hits, one walk and struck out three.
The right-hander may not have struck out a lot of batters in his winning performance, however that is not as important when the 25 year-old doesn’t allow an earned run.
The Barons had both phases rolling as the away team snagged another run from a sure-hand this series in Tyler Neslony. Neslony smacked an RBI single to right-field to score Jose Rodriguez and extend the lead in the top of the fifth.
A couple of innings later the Barons would add to their lead by three-runs. The first of the runs would come as Rodriguez reached base on a fielder’s choice and advanced a runner to the plate. The lone run got the Barons going in the inning as they would muster two-consecutive walks as Luis Mieses came up to bat. Mieses would corral both base runners to the plate with an RBI single, extending the lead to 5-0.
As the Barons offense continued to get the job done so was LHP Jonah Scolaro in his first action with Birmingham this season. Scolaro, after being promoted from High-A Winston-Salem, came into his first Double-A appearance with no rust to shake off. The southpaw finished his 3.2 IP with two hits, zero earned runs, three walks and five strikeouts.
Birmingham capped off the game, again, with both phases getting the jobs done. In the top of the ninth, Yoelqui Cespedes tacked on one more insurance as a ground out brought a runner across the plate. Cespedes brought in the run, and RHP Hunter Dollander closed out the game from the bump.
Dollander finished his 1.1 IP allowing one hit and striking out a lone batter.
Birmingham dominated in the shutout victory, however they can not stay complacent as they still have an uphill battle to climb as they sit 13-23 on the season. The Barons will take on the Trash Pandas again on Friday, May 19, with RHP Matt Thompson taking the mound.