SL Birmingham Barons

Birmingham Drops Game 1 to Biloxi in First Matchup of the Season against the Shuckers

July 26, 2023 - Southern League (SL)
Birmingham Barons News Release


In the 2023 season, the Birmingham Barons came into Tuesday's contest having played six out of the eight teams in the Southern League. After a 7-4 loss against the Biloxi Shuckers, the Barons can now cross them off their list of teams to play with Montgomery the lone team left to play.

In the loss to the Shuckers, Birmingham kicked off the game with a Xavier Fernandez bomb, yet Biloxi dominated the middle innings to take the contest. The Barons left-handed starter, Tommy Sommer, got out of a rough first inning unscathed in which he saw five total batters and two getting into scoring position.

The scorching hot, Fernandez, was able to reward Sommer with a solo home run in the top of the second to hand the Barons the early lead. The 28-year-old came into the ballgame with a .451 batting average and an OPS of 1.337 in the month of July. Fernandez only recorded one hit in the game, extending his on-base streak to 19 games as well as raising his totals to 24 hits, five home runs and 15 RBI, in July.

The Barons would build on their early momentum, dominating the bottom of second and scoring another run in the top of the third. In the bottom of the second, Sommer sat down the Shuckers in order on two ground balls and a foul tip strikeout. In the top of the third, Alsander Womack added to the Barons lead on an RBI single to right field that scored Jose Rodriguez.

Also in the thrd, Biloxi secured their first run of the game on an RBI single by Isaac Collins that scored Jackson Chourio. The Shuckers may have only cut the deficit in half with their first scoring efforts, however, it opened the floodgates for what was to come.

Biloxi exploded in the bottom of the fourth inning with a three-run home run from Nick Kahle. Kahle recorded his third home run of the season off of the first pitch that he saw off of Sommer in the at-bat. The Shuckers would add two more in the bottom of the fifth inning but not before Birmingham would tie the ballgame up with a two-run frame in the top.

In the fifth inning, the Barons collected their last two runs of the game off of an RBI double from Moises Castillo that scored Taylor Snyder and a ground out by Womack that scored Castillo. Birmingham was able to tie the game at 4 apiece, however, that would not hold for too long. The Shuckers in the bottom of the fifth hit back-to-back home runs to take the lead and not give it back.

Biloxi's Isaac Collins and Wes Clarke smacked two consecutive homers to left centerfield and left field, respectively. The Shuckers bats claimed the lead and the momentum as they were able to roll through the Barons the rest of the game.

After the game-altering fifth inning, the Barons went to the bullpen to finish out the game for right-hander Jared Kelley. Kelley redeemed himself from his first outing as a Barons this season where he gave up five earned runs in 0.2 IP. The 21-year-old pitched 3.0 innings in which he only allowed two hits, one earned run, four walks and struck out six. The one run came in the seventh inning off of a fielder's choice, nevertheless the youngster bounced back in his second outing for the Barons.

Birmingham would not muster any sort of offense the rest of the game as the Barons only had two hits in the final four innings of play.

The Barons now turn their energy to Game 2 in Biloxi to try and notch the series at one apiece. Birmingham will toss RHP Cristian Mena out on the bump for Wednesday's contest for his 19th start of the season.

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Southern League Stories from July 26, 2023


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