Barons Score Three in Eighth, Top Stars 4-2

The Birmingham Barons scored three runs in the eighth inning, coming from behind for a 4-2 win over the Huntsville Stars Wednesday afternoon in front of 1,747 fans at Regions Park.

The Barons got on the board early as Drew Garcia continued his torrid hitting with a one out triple and scored on a wild pitch by Tyler Thornburg in the first inning. The hit extended his hitting streak to five games.

Barons' starter Jose Quintana turned in a strong performance, cruising through five scoreless innings before running into trouble in the sixth when a leadoff double and a walk chased him from the game. Hank Mabee (2-0, 0.00) relieved and allowed an RBI single to Anderson De La Rose to tie the game. The Stars took a 2-1 lead later in the inning on a two-out error by Barons shortstop Tyler Saladino.

In the bottom of the eighth, Kenny Williams Jr. led off with a double and was sacrificed to third by Saladino. Drew Garcia drove Williams Jr. home with a double to right-center field to tie the game at 2-2. After an intentional walk to Andy Wilkins, Corey Smith gave the Barons a 3-2 lead with an opposite field single. A bases loaded hit by pitch forced in the third run of the inning to give the Barons a 4-2 lead.

Santos Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the season. The win went to Mabee who allowed a hit and struck out two in 2.0 innings. Stars reliever Darren Byrd (0-1, 6.75) took the loss allowing three runs on three hits in 1.2 innings.

With the win, the Barons improve to 3-4 while the Stars fall to 2-5.

The win gives the Barons their first winning streak of the season and they will look to make it three in a row Thursday as Simon Castro (0-0, 7.20) takes the hill against Stars starter Evan Anundsen (0-0, 3.00). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.