Birmingham pounds the Trash Pandas 11-8 behind a big offensive night at Regions Field!

Caleb Bonemer had three hits and four RBI as the Birmingham Barons won 11-8 over the Rocket City Trash Pandas before 1,935 at Regions Field on Tuesday night. The Barons have won seven games in a row and have tied the Trash Pandas for the second playoff spot to face Knoxville in September.

Starting pitcher Juan Carela (1-2, 4.50) gets his first win of the season, going five innings, giving up six hits, three earned runs, and no walks with five strikeouts. Liam Paddack pitched two innings, giving up one hit, no runs, and a walk with five strikeouts. Carson Jacobs pitched 0.2 innings, giving up three hits, two earned runs, and a walk with two strikeouts. Jonathan Clark got his eighth save of the season, going 1.1 innings, giving up two hits, no runs, and no walks with a strikeout.

Birmingham (27-25, 53-68) scored in the bottom of the first inning. Dylan Campbell and Caleb Bonemer walked. Alec Briley grounded into a fielder's choice, scoring Campbell, and the Barons took a 1-0 lead. Colby Shelton singled to right field, scoring Briley, and the Barons led 2-0. Ryan Burrowes hit a two-run home run to right field, and the Barons led 4-0.

Rocket City (27-25, 62-58) scored in the top of the second. The Trash Pandas scored three runs on a Barons error on a fly ball that was dropped. The Barons led 4-3.

In the bottom of the second inning, Samuel Zavala singled and Caleb Bonemer doubled, scoring Zavala. The Barons led 5-3. Briley doubled to right field, scoring Bonemer, and the Barons led 6-3.

In the top of the fourth inning, Jake Thompson hit a three-run home run to tie the game at 6-6.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, James Taussig and Zavala singled. Dylan Campbell laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving the base runners to third and second base. Bonemer followed with a three-run home run, and the Barons led 9-6.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Taussig hit a home run over the right field wall, and the Barons led 10-6.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Bonemer doubled to lead off the inning. Bonemer moved to third base on a ground out. Anthony DePino walked. Shelton hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Bonemer, and the Barons led 11-6.

In the top of the eighth inning, an Anthony Scull triple scored Caleb Bartolero, and a Cole Fontenelle single scored Scull, and the Trash Pandas cut the lead to 11-8.

Rocket City put two runners in the top of the ninth inning, but Clark struck out Caleb Bartolero to end the game.

Up next, the Barons will play Game 2 in the six-game series against Rocket City. RHP Dylan Cumming (4-7, 5.21) will go for the Barons while RHP Austin Gordon (7-6, 4.39) will go for the Trash Pandas. First pitch is at 7:00 pm.