SL1 Birmingham Barons

Barons Outlast Stars 9-8

Published on June 3, 2013 under Southern League (SL1)
Birmingham Barons News Release


Birmingham, AL - The Birmingham Barons overcame an early deficit and held on despite a harrowing ninth inning to defeat the Huntsville Stars 9-8 in front of 938 fans at Joe Davis Stadium.

The Stars took an early 3-0 lead against Stephen McCray (6-3, 3.49) who allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits over 5.0 innings on the night. Despite the rocky start, McCray gutted his way to a victory as the Barons scored eight runs in a three-inning span starting in the fourth.

Tyler Saldino started the scoring barrage with an RBI double in the fourth. The Barons would tie the game at 3- 3 in the fifth on a two-run double by Trayce Thompson and take the lead on a Dan Black RBI base hit.

A wild pitch by McCray allowed the Stars knot the game at 4-4 in the bottom half of the inning, but some erratic pitching from the Stars helped the Barons pull away in the 6th . With a runner on first and two outs, Santo Manzanillo and Daniel Meadows combined to walk six-straight Barons hitters, including four with the bases loaded to give the Barons an 8-4 cushion.

Leading 8-6 in the ninth, Cody Puckett provided what proved to be a key insurance run with an RBI single, scoring Jared Mitchell and giving the Barons a 9-6 lead.

Taylor Thompson cruised through the eighth inning but ran into trouble in the ninth as the first four batters reached base including Brock Kjeldgaard who narrowed the Barons' lead to 9-8 with a bases loaded single. With runners at first and second and nobody out, Thompson dug deep to strike out the next three hitters, picking up his team-leading 8th save of the season.

With the win, the Barons improved to 37-20 while Huntsville fell to 24-30. Andy Wilkins walked four times but saw finished 0-for-1 and saw his 13-game hitting streak come to an end. The Barons are now a season-best 17 games over .500 and have now won six games in a row away from Regions Field.

The Barons will look to pick up a series victory tomorrow night as LHP Spencer Arroyo (4-3, 2.73) takes the hill against RHP Taylor Jungmann (5-5, 4.78). First pitch is scheduled for 6:43 PM CDT.

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Southern League Stories from June 3, 2013


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