Paolini homers, but Generals fall in opener to Barons

JACKSON, TENN. (JULY 10, 2014) - The Birmingham Barons (12-8, 41-49) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first they defeated the Generals (7-14, 38-52) 7-4 Thursday in Jackson. Starter Tyler Olson went just 0.2 innings and allowed three runs on three hits in his shortest outing of the year.

With two outs in the top of the first, Barons catcher Kevan Smith doubled to score Trayce Thompson and Josh Richmond followed with a two-run double to make it 3-0 Barons after a half inning.

The Generals picked up a run back in the third as Brock Hebert (0x2, R) reached when he was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a single from Leon Landry (2x5, RBI) to cut the lead to 3-1.

Birmingham came right back in the fourth as Jeremy Farrell doubled to bring home Chris Curley to extend the lead to 4-1. Three more runs scored in the sixth on Trayce Thompson's eleventh home run of the season and it was 7-1 Barons.

Jackson got a homer of their own as Dan Paolini (2x4, R, 2 RBI) went deep for the sixth time in the bottom of the sixth, a two-run shot that cut the lead to 7-3.

The Generals added another run in the eighth as D.J. Peterson (1x5, R) doubled and came around to score on a single from Patrick Kivlehan (2x4, R, RBI) to make it 7-4, but that was as close as Jackson got as the Barons held on for their seventh win in their last nine games

Olson took the loss for the Generals as he allowed three runs on three hits in just 0.2 innings. Mike Recchia (5-2, 3.02) earned the win with 6.0 quality innings as he gave up just three runs on seven hits and Kevin Vance earned his fourth save.

The Generals and Barons will play game two of the series Friday. Jackson will send Stephen Landazuri (3-4, 4.22) as Nick McCully (4-7, 5.66) will make the start for Birmingham. The game will begin at 7:05 p.m. and can be heard on 96.5 ESPN, TuneIn Radio and jacksongeneralsbaseball.com.