Barons continue mastery of Biscuits in opener, 3-0
August 17, 2009 - Southern League (SL1)
Montgomery Biscuits News Release
BIRMINGHAM, AL - The Birmingham Barons beat the Biscuits for the 10th consecutive time, shutting out Montgomery 3-0 in the opener of a five-game series on Monday night at Regions Park.
The Barons got on the board as quickly as possible in the first inning, as leadoff batter John Shelby III belted the first pitch of the ballgame from Biscuits' starter Darin Downs over the wall in the left-center field. The solo-home run put the Barons in front, 1-0.
Birmingham added a run to their lead off of Downs in the fourth inning. C.J. Retherford opened the inning with a broken-bat single to right field. Christian Marrero followed with an infield-single and Dayan Viciedo singled through the left-side of the infield to load the bases. Jim Gallagher sent a grounder to third base that Chris Nowak couldn't handle and Retherford scored on the play to put Birmingham ahead, 2-0. Downs struck out two to minimize the damage to a lone run in the inning.
Meanwhile, Barons' starter Matt Long (5-3) was sailing along. He blanked the Biscuits for six innings to earn his third consecutive win. He allowed just three hits, walking two and striking out three.
A frightening moment occurred as the Barons added to their lead in the fifth inning. With runners at first and second, Marrero sent a line-drive back to the mound that struck Downs in the head and deflected back into the Biscuits' dugout. Downs required medical attention and departed the ballgame, while the ball officially became a ground-rule double, allowing a third run to score for Birmingham. Heath Rollins came in to finish the inning for Montgomery.
Downs (0-2) took the loss after leaving for medical reasons after 4 1/3 innings. He allowed three earned runs on six hits, walking two and striking out five. As a precautionary measure, he was taken to the hospital following his departure.
Rollins worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief behind Downs, before Ryan Reid worked a scoreless eighth inning.
Ricky Brooks worked a scoreless seventh inning for Birmingham before Clevelan Santeliz worked the final two innings to preserve the shutout and earn his sixth save of the season.
Game two of the series is scheduled for 7:05 PM on Tuesday night at Regions Park. RHP Rayner Oliveros (5-1, 2.83) will make the start for Montgomery against RHP Matt Zaleski (5-0, 1.78) for Birmingham.
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