Shrimp Come Back on Barons, Sets Up Rubber Match Thursday

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A back-and-forth, seesaw affair ended on the wrong side of extra-innings for the Birmingham Barons (57-68) in their 7-6 Wednesday night loss to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (63-65) at Regions Field.

Tied 6-6 in the top of the 10^th, Jumbo Shrimp right fielder Stone Garrett padded a swinging bunt down the third base line. Charging third baseman Zach Remillard could not secure the ball on a tough play to make. The runner who started the inning on second, Joe Dunand, came in from third and scored on the infield single to take a 7-6 lead.
The Shrimp took a brief lead in the top of the fifth, on Marlins top prospect Jazz Chisholm's RBI single to right-center field to take a 4-3 lead. They chipped away again with one run in the eighth and the tying run in the ninth on a throwing error from pitcher Codi Heuer to knot it at 6-6.
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth, the Barons used their second big hit parade of the night to go back up. RBI singles from the bottom of the order in Laz Rivera, Nate Nolan and Luis Valenzuela propelled Birmingham to a 6-4 lead just past the halfway point.
After a 54-minute rain delay to start the game, Birmingham came out of the gates swinging a hot stick. In the bottom of the first, they used their first hit parade of two singles, two doubles and a couple RBI to take an early lead.
After Luis González singled to lead off and stole second, he came home on a two-out, RBI double from Damek Tomscha. Tomscha would come home one batter later, thanks to an RBI single from Remillard to make it 2-0 after one inning of play.
After the bases were loaded in the second, Tomscha stepped up again and worked a walk. The free pass brought in Nolan to make it 3-0.
Jacksonville chipped away quickly. They got their first run in the third inning off an RBI triple from Chisholm. In the fourth, Garrett golfed a two-run home run into the Barons bullpen to tie it at 3-3.
Both starters, Blake Battenfield for Birmingham and Daniel Castano for Jacksonville, went five innings but struggled with command. Heuer blew the save in the ninth and picked up his second loss of the season. Left-hander Alex Vesia threw three perfect frames for the Shrimp to end the game and earned his second win of the season.
It has been a good stretch Tomscha. In his last 27 games, his is batting above .300, has 23 RBI and has drawn six walks.
Garrett had one of his best performances of the season, going 5-for-5 with the two homers, a double, a run scored and three RBI. Garrett hit a two-run homer Monday to put the Shrimp up for good in their 3-2 victory.
In total, there were two ties and three lead changes throughout the night. With the loss, the Barons fell to .500 at 4-4 in extra-inning ballgames.
Birmingham will conclude their five-game series with the Jumbo Shrimp Thursday evening, starting at 7:05 p.m. CT. Left-hander Tanner Banks (2-7, 4.80) will take the hill and make his 19^th start of the season.
WJQX-FM 100.5 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