SL1 Birmingham Barons

Series Opener Turns Wild in Extra Innings Loss

Published on June 3, 2019 under Southern League (SL1)
Birmingham Barons News Release


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A wild and crazy Birmingham Barons (21-34) series opener turned sour late during the Jackson Generals (32-23) 14-12 extra-inning win Sunday night from Regions Field.

It was the Barons first extra-inning game of the season, after the Generals tied the score at 9-9 in the ninth on Daulton Varsho's RBI single to right-center. The Barons had been the only Southern League team coming in to not play an extra-inning game this season.

Jackson took a 10-9 lead in the 10th, after Arizona Diamondbacks top prospect Jazz Chisholm scored Andy Young from third on a sacrifice fly.

Still with two outs down, the next batter Ramon Hernandez broke it wide open with his fifth homer of the season, scoring three more runs. The next batter, pinch hitter Matt Jones, tacked it on with a solo homer of his own to extend the Jackson lead to a quick 14-9 score.

Birmingham didn't go down without more of a fight. They would score three more runs off three hits, including a Ti'Quan Forbes two-run homer to cut it to a two-run ballgame. Generals pitcher Connor Gray would seal the deal on a Blake Rutherford fly out to end it at 14-12.

The Barons drew first blood early on, scoring one run in each of the first two innings. Gavin Sheets plated his team-leading 26 RBI on a sacrifice fly in the first to make it 1-0. In the second inning, Ramon Torres chopped a single to right to score Rutherford and make it 2-1.

The sixth inning blew open the scoring, with a combined 9 runs between the two teams.

Jackson, trailing 4-2 going into the inning, got it started with four singles in the first six batters to plate two runs. After a pitching change by Birmingham, catcher Daulton Varsho and second baseman Andy Young went back-to-back on solo homers. In total, Jackson had six runs, seven hits, two home runs and 11 at bats in the sixth inning.

Suddenly, the Barons lead disappeared into an 8-4 deficit, but Birmingham wasted no time coming back. They scored three in the half, capped off by a two-run double from Sheets to make it 8-7.

With two outs in the inning, "La Pantera" Luis Robert sent a rainbow, catapulted solo homer over the left field scoreboard that traveled 453 feet.

With his home run, Robert extended his hitting streak to 11-straight games, three off the team high of 14 this season. Robert, the White Sox No. 2 prospect, has now hit in 17 of his last 20 games and improved his batting average to .325 as a Baron.

With the Barons still trailing in the eighth and with two outs, Sheets came up clutch again with his fourth and fifth RBI of the night on a single to right-center to take a 9-8 lead. The five runs batted in were a new career-high for Sheets, who now has 11 RBI in this homestand.

Lincoln Henzman made his first appearance and start for the Barons since being called up from Class A+ Winston-Salem on Saturday. He lasted 5.2 innings and surrendered six runs with three strikeouts.

The two hits from Rutherford gave him three consecutive two-hit ballgames. Yermin Mercedes finished with two hits, two walks and two RBI. He has now reached base safely in all but three of his games played this season.

The contest was three hours and 59 minutes, easily a new season-high for the Barons this season. The Barons also gave up a season-high 14 runs, 20 hits and this was the highest combined runs in a Barons game this season.

The Barons will resume their series with the Generals on Monday with a doubleheader starting at 5:00 p.m. The Generals will be the home team for the second game, which will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Right-hander Jimmy Lambert (3-3, 4.22) will make his 11 start of the season.

WJOX-AM 690 will be the home of the Barons on Monday. Fans can tune into the Coca-Cola Pregame Show starting at 4:45 p.m.

The Birmingham Barons are the proud Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. The Barons will open the home portion of their 2019 season, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of Michael Jordan's lone year in baseball, against the Tennessee Smokies at 7:05 p.m. April 10 at Regions Field. For ticket information, game schedule, promotions calendar or additional information about Regions Field, please visit barons.com or call (205) 988-3200.

Check out the Birmingham Barons Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Southern League Stories from June 3, 2019


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.

OurSports Central