Barons Drop Friday Night Battle, Fall 7–4 to Trash Pandas
By Jeff Allison MADISON, Alabama -- The Birmingham Barons had the bases loaded in the ninth inning, but could not finish off the rally as the Barons lost 7-4 to the Rocket City Trash Pandas on Friday night. In the top of the ninth inning, the Barons loaded the bases
By Jeff Allison
MADISON, Alabama -- The Birmingham Barons had the bases loaded in the ninth inning, but could not finish off the rally as the Barons lost 7-4 to the Rocket City Trash Pandas on Friday night. In the top of the ninth inning, the Barons loaded the bases with two outs, but a deep fly ball to the wall just missed out on the Barons' comeback.
Starting pitcher Shane Murphy did his part, giving the Barons (5-8) a shot at a win, but the bullpen let another game slip away in the final two innings. The crafty lefty pitched 6.0 innings, giving up five hits, three runs, two earned runs, three walks, with five strikeouts. Eric Adler (0-1, 27.00) took the loss, going 1.0 inning, giving up three hits, three earned runs, two walks, with no strikeouts. Nick Altermatt pitched 1.0 inning, giving up two hits, one earned run, no walks, with one strikeout.
Rocket City (6-7) started the scoring first in the first inning. A Raudi Rodriguez RBI double gave the Trash Pandas a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the third inning, Harold Coll hit a home run over the left field fence, and the Trash Pandas took a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Barons' offense came to life. Braden Montgomery led off with a solo home run over the right field fence. Recent call-up, Alec Makarewicz, hit a solo home run over the center field fence, and the game was tied, but the Barons took the lead a few batters later. Win two outs, Wilfred Veras singled to center field and stole second base. Andy Weber hit a single to right field, scoring Veras, and the Barons took a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, a Mac McCroskey fielder's choice scored Tucker Flint, and the game was tied at 3-3. Rocket City scored four more runs in the last two innings and tied the series at 2-2 with the 7-4 win.
Weber went 4-for-4 with an RBI in the loss. He is the first Baron to get four hits in one game this season. Montgomery hit his fourth home run of the season, raising his average to .333 on the season.