SL1 Birmingham Barons

Braves Sweep DH Over Barons

Published on July 23, 2008 under Southern League (SL1)
Birmingham Barons News Release


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Mississippi Braves used a late comeback to claim a 6-4, extra-inning win in game one, then held on for a wet 6-5 win in game two to sweep a doubleheader over the Birmingham Barons Wednesday night. With the win, the Braves (50-52, 20-12) extended their lead over the Barons to three games in the Southern League's South Division standings. Birmingham has now lost five of six doubleheader games this year and was swept for the second time.

The M-Braves took advantage of several costly Birmingham (57-45, 17-15) miscues in the first contest and used a first-inning error to take a quick 1-0 lead off Birmingham starter Kyle McCulloch. The Barons answered in their half of the inning on a three-run homer by Javier Castillo, his fifth of the season and took a 3-1 lead.

Mississippi used a leadoff single and another Birmingham error to claim a run in the fifth, but Birmingham responded with a solo home run by Stefan Gartrell, his team-leading 11th of the season, to push the lead back to 4-2.

The M-Braves turned a leadoff walk into another run in the sixth and tied the game off Barons closer Jon Link in the seventh on a leadoff infield single, a balk, and a sacrifice fly.

Mississippi's Reid Gorecki coaxed a leadoff walk against Birmingham reliever John Lujan (3-2) in the eighth, which was an extra inning in a game originally slated to be just a seven-inning contest. The frame was the fourth straight in which Mississippi got the leadoff batter on base, and that man eventually scored each time. Gorecki would come around on a two-run homer by Kala Ka'aihue that put the M-Braves on top by a 6-4 count, their first lead of the night.

Luis Valdez retired the Barons in order in the bottom of the eighth for his 17th save of the season, preserving the win for reliever Kevin Gunderson (2-2).

The second game was the near opposite of the first, with Mississippi taking the early lead in the second inning. The Braves pounded out five hits off Birmingham starter Dewon Day (0-4), scoring four times and taking a 4-0 lead.

However, the Birmingham offense would awake in the bottom of the second, getting a leadoff homer from Brandon Allen, his fourth of the year, to get its first run of the contest. That would be the last activity for either side for nearly an hour, as the game was then stopped for 55 minutes because of a rain delay.

When action resumed, Mississippi starter Todd Redmond (9-4) returned to the hill and promptly served up a solo long ball to Stefan Gartrell, his 12th, marking the first time the Barons had players smack back-to-back home runs since Darren Blakely and Ricardo Nanita accomplished the feat at Mississippi on May 26, 2006.

A Lee Cruz single and Erick San Pedro double would lead to another run in the inning and get the Barons within 4-3. But the Braves would get that run back in the fifth on a Ka'aihue RBI double that extended the lead back to two. Refusing to stay quiet, Birmingham got an RBI groundout from Cruz in the sixth to inch back within a run.

Mississippi would score a crucial insurance run in the seventh and final inning off reliever Ryan Rote, using a leadoff single, a sac bunt, and two wild pitches to take a 6-4 advantage.

That run would prove to be pivotal, as Miguel Negron launched a two-out, solo home run off Redmond in the bottom of the inning that cut the Barons' deficit to 6-5. But Victor Mercedes ended the game with a lineout off closer Luis Valdez to clinch the latter's 18th save of the season.

In the second game, Allen posted his first three-hit game as a Baron, coming a single shy of the cycle. Negron smacked two hits in the nightcap, while Gartrell and Robbie Hudson each had a pair of base knocks in the first contest.

Big-leaguer Esteban Loaiza tossed two more scoreless relief innings in the second contest and has not been scored upon in any of his six innings of work during his rehab stint with the Barons.

The same two teams will square off Thursday at 7:05 pm in the third game of the series. Birmingham southpaw Aaron Poreda (1-2) will take on Mississippi righty Kris Medlen (3-5).

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Southern League Stories from July 23, 2008


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