Barons pound out 16 hits in 9-3 win over Generals

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. (JUNE 7, 2014) - The offense started earlier Saturday for both teams, but it only continued through the night for one of them as the Birmingham Barons (27-36) defeated the Generals (27-35) 9-3 at Regions Field. Both teams pounded out double digit hit totals, but once again Jackson experienced woes with runners in scoring position as they went 3-12 in that category on the night. Jackson still leads the series 2-1 and are now 5-2 during the month of June.

Patrick Kivlehan (1x3, RBI) extended his on base streak to 17 games with a single in the third inning as Ketel Marte (1x4, RBI) extended his hitting streak to a team-best 13 games with a second inning base hit. The two-hit club included Leon Landry (2x4, R) and Dan Paolini (2x4) as John Hicks (3x4, R) achieved his second three-hit night on the season.

The bats came alive earlier than they did the previous two nights as both teams picked up a first inning run. With one out Landry singled, Paolini doubled him to third and there were two runners in scoring position for Kivlehan. Kivlehan hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Landry and it was 1-0 Generals.

Birmingham tied the score in the bottom half on their own sac fly. Trayce Thompson doubled and then stole third to put himself 90 feet from home with no outs. Chris Curley flew out to center, but Thompson scored and it was 1-1 after one.

Jackson retook the lead in the top of the second. Hicks led off with a single and then stole second base. Mickey Wiswall (1x4, R) advanced him to third with a single of his own and Kevin Rivers (1x4, RBI) followed with a ground rule double that scored Hicks. Two batters later Marte singled to score Wiswall and it looked like the Generals were in control up 3-1 after two.

But the Birmingham bats came alive in the fourth. Josh Richmond and Joe De Pinto each hit solo home runs to tie the game at 3-3.

The Barons added another in the fifth when Curley doubled and scored when Michael Earley reached on an error. Then Birmingham blew the game open in the sixth.

Richmond singled to get things started. He scored on Luis Sierra's double, but Sierra was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. De Pinto flied out and quickly there were two out. But Jaime Pedroza singled and Thompson doubled to keep the inning alive. They both scored on Curley's following single and the lead ballooned to 7-3.

Birmingham scored single runs in each the seventh and eighth innings to increase the final score to 9-3.

Bryan Blough (1-0, 3.12) earned his first Double-A win as went 5.2 innings giving up three runs and scattering 10 hits. He also struck out five Generals. Forrest Snow (0-1, 6.10) picked up the loss in only his second start back with Jackson. He went 5.2 innings, but gave up five runs on eight hits and allowed two home runs.

The Generals bid to win their second series in a row will have to wait until Sunday when the two teams play game four of the series. Jackson will send Victor Sanchez (1-2, 5.28) to the mound as Scott Snodgrass (3-4, 4.48) will look to make the start for Birmingham. The game will be at 3:00 pm and can be heard on 96.5 ESPN, TuneIn Radio and jacksongeneralsbaseball.com.