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SL Birmingham Barons

Barons Squander Stellar Performance from Thompson in 9-1 Loss to Lookouts

July 25, 2023 - Southern League (SL)
Birmingham Barons News Release


The Birmingham Barons for the majority of the season have ranked at the bottom of the Southern League in ERA. However, there have been a few bright spots in the Barons pitching staff recently, RHP Matt Thompson being one of them. Thompson came into this matchup with a 1.61 ERA in the last 30 days and continued in his dominant ways only allowing two runs in 6.0 innings pitched. Despite the stellar performance from the mound, the Barons offense did not help out the cause as the home team fell 9-1 to the Lookouts.

Thompson started his tear in the first inning, sitting down the Lookouts in four batters and collecting his first of four strikeouts in the game. The Barons right-hander handled the top of the inning as well as the Lookouts RHP Lyon Richardson handled the bottom of the inning. Richardson sat down the Barons in five batters with Terrell Tatum picking up a walk and Alsander Womack collecting his first of four hits in the ballgame.

Thompson continued his dominance into the second as he sat down the Lookouts in order with a fly out and two grounders. His counterpart, Richardson, also kept his confidence rolling on the mound in the bottom of the second. The Lookouts right-hander sat down the Barons in four batters as he hit Adam Hackenberg with a pitch, the 10th batter Chattanooga has hit in the series.

Moving to the third, the real game started as the Barons broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run by Womack. Womack had his back to the wall as he found himself in an 0-2 count. After a quick kick to his bat, Alsander smacked a ball over the right field wall for an early lead for the Barons. Before the solo bomb, Thompson kept dealing from the mound and collected his second strikeout of the game.

The Barons getting one by Richardson in the third was the extent of his outing as Chattanooga called to the bullpen starting in the fourth. RHP Carson Spiers relieved Richardson in the fourth and immediately met with Luis Mieses' 21st double of the year. Even though the Barons were able to get a runner in scoring position early, Spiers kept Birmingham off the scoreboard for another inning.

Two pitchers dueled in the fifth as the score stayed at a Barons one-run lead.

In the sixth, the Lookouts finally got themselves on the board on a sacrifice fly from Blake Dunn, however, the run would not go on Thompson's record because of a throwing error that got the run on-base. In the bottom of the inning, Womack was the only Baron to get any sort of offense rolling in his third hit of the night in as many appearances.

As the game rolled to the seventh, Thompson's outing drew to a close as his motor started to run out of fuel with the first three batters getting on-base for Chattanooga. The Barons chose to go to their pen in RHP Haylen Green. Green was brought into an already sticking situation with the bases loaded, with a HBP and a grounder that scored a run, the Lookouts offense started to roll. Chattanooga secured two runs in the seventh inning to gain the lead, and never give it back.

Green continued his outing into the eighth as he secured his one and only strikeout of the game in the five batters he faced in the inning. The Barons were not out of reach to make a comeback, yet their efforts would not be enough to make a dent in the deficit. In the bottom of the eighth, Womack would extend his success at the plate to 4-4 and Xavier Fernandez would extend his hit streak to 14 games with a double to advance the former to third. The Barons would ultimately strand two-runners in scoring position in their best chance at tying the ballgame.

The Barons not only fell short on an opportunity to tie the ballgame, but they also imploded in the top of the ninth to cement their fate. Birmingham in the ninth inning allowed six runs to Chattanooga as well as had no response in the bottom of the ninth to end the game. The Barons currently rank last in all of the Southern League in ninth inning ERA with a 6.96 and rank second worst in runs produced in the ninth inning with 29.

Birmingham has been able to turn certain weaknesses around in the second half, however this specific statistic has been a decisive factor in a lot of games so far.

The Barons now found themselves in a tight series with Chattanooga knocking on the door of a split series. Birmingham will try to take the series in its finale with LHP Garrett Schoenle taking the bump for Game 6.

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Southern League Stories from July 25, 2023


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