Barons Rally to Beat BayBears, 7-6
July 27, 2003 - Southern League (SL1)
Birmingham Barons News Release
BIRMINGHAM, AL â The Birmingham Barons posted a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the bottom of the ninth inning as they beat the Mobile BayBears 7-6 in front of 2,106 fans on Sunday evening at the Hoover Met. The victory, the Barons fourth in a row, vaulted Birmingham into sole possession of first place in the Western Division a game ahead of Huntsville.
For the second straight night a Barons starter had a rough outing but the bats and the bullpen were able to overcome an early deficit. Tetsu Yofu gave up four runs on six hits and three walks over five innings as he could not find consistency with his pitches.
Yofu gave up two runs in the second on a two-run double by catcher Jon Benick and a single run in the third on a Bobby Scales RBI double to give the BayBears an early 3-0 lead. Birmingham would strike back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third when two runners crossed the plate on a play in which second baseman Jake Gautreau committed two errors. With the bases loaded and two outs, Jeremy Reed hit a grounder to Gautreau who bobbled the ball to allow Reed to reach and score Jon Hamilton and then threw to first and threw the ball away allowing Danny Sandoval to scamper home and make the score 3-2.
The two teams would exchange runs in the fifth on a RBI double by Rico Washington in the top half and a run scoring single by Scott Bikowski in the bottom half. Jim Bullard came on in the sixth to relieve Yofu but gave up two unearned runs to give Mobile a late 6-3 lead.
The seventh inning was the start of the comeback as Chris Saunders smacked a two-run single in his first game since June 8th to cut the lead to 6-5. In the ninth, Mobile brought on their closer Rusty Tucker to shut the door but gave up leadoff homer to Juan Piniella to tie the game. The bases were then loaded after Reed singled, moved to second on a sacrifice and to third on a wild pitch before Bikowski and Saunders each walked. Pinch hitter Chad Durham then lifted a fly ball to right field to plate Reed for the winning run.
The Barons head down to Mobile for two games and send out LHP Neal Cotts (8-5, 2.30) to face RHP Justin Germano (0-2, 4.05). All the action can be heard on 101.1 FM "The Source" with Curt Bloom on the play-by-play.
• Discuss this story on the Southern League message board...
Southern League Stories from July 27, 2003
- Barons Rally to Beat BayBears, 7-6 - Birmingham Barons
- BayBears lose lead in ninth to Barons - Mobile BayBears
- Another walkoff win for the Mudcats - Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp
- Thompson, Smitherman Lead Lookouts Past Stars, 5-0 - Huntsville Stars
- Gaudin Stymies Smokies - Orlando Rays
- Rays Win Second Straight Over Smokies - Knoxville Smokies
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
