Cespedes Smacks Grand-Slam to Break Losing Streak in 8-4 Victory Over Biloxi

The Birmingham Barons break seven-game losing streak in 8-4 victory over the Biloxi Shuckers in Game 4. In the Friday victory, the Barons collected eight hits and used a total of four pitchers.

Barons Luis Mieses got the scoring started in the ballgame in the bottom half of the second. Mieses in the second smacked his ninth home run of the year in a solo shot to give Birmingham the early 1-0 lead.

In the innings before the homer, RHP Mason Adams kicked off his second start in Double-A. Adams in both the top half of the first and the second kept the Shuckers off the scoreboard. The right-hander allowed two singles, one walk and struck out two.

Adams continued his dominant ways through the top half of the third. The 23-year-old collected his third strikeout and two more walks. Nevertheless, Adams kept Biloxi out of the scoring column.

Mason Adams continued into the fourth, however, would not finish the inning. Adams allowed his lone earned run of the night with two out in the top of the fourth. The right-hander finished his night with three hits, one earned run, four walks and struck out four in his 3.2 innings pitched. LHP Garrett Schoenle came in to capture the last out in the fourth.

Schoenle returned to the mound for the fifth inning. The left-hander allowed the leadoff hitter, Wes Clarke, to capture the lead for the Shuckers with a solo home run. Schoenle shut down Biloxi the rest of the inning to keep the damage to a minimum. Schoenle’s night would end at the end of the inning to cap off his 2.1 innings pitched. The southpaw finished with one hit, one earned run, one walk, one home run and four strikeouts.

The Barons bats ran dry until the bottom of the sixth. In the bottom half of the sixth, Birmingham collected six runs to put themselves up 7-2. Tim Elko kicked off the scoring for the Barons as a single up the middle scored Alsander Womack from third base and advanced Wilfred Veras to third. One batter later, Mieses collected his second RBI of the game with a single to left field to score Veras. Yoelqui Cespedes capped off the inning with a grand slam that exited the stadium at 107 MPH and traveled 422 feet. Cespedes home run was his first since August 25th against Rocket City.

LHP Haylen Green took over the mound in the top half of the seventh inning. Green allowed one hit but held off the Shuckers in four batters to protect the lead the offense gave him. In the bottom half of the inning the Barons bats continued to add to the lead with one run in the frame.

Bryan Ramos smacked his second hit of the night and his first RBI of the night in a single that scored Womack.

Biloxi was not going away as they scored two in the top of the eighth. The Shuckers got some success by Green, however, the lefty was able to keep the comfortable lead intact. Green finished his night with five hits, two earned runs and one strikeout. The Barons offense could not pad the lead anymore as RHP Tristan Stivors took the mound for the top of the ninth.

Stivors finished the game in three batters and snapped the Barons losing streak at seven games. The right-hander finished off the game with one hit allowed.

Birmingham claims one victory over Biloxi in this series as it stands 3-1. The Barons turn their efforts to try and split the series with a start in Game 5 with RHP Jonathan Cannon taking the bump.