Shaw and Mieses Lead the Way for Barons 11-4 Win over Trash Pandas
July 1, 2023 - Southern League (SL)
Birmingham Barons News Release
The Birmingham Barons bounced back from a narrow loss in Game 2 against the Rocket City Trash Pandas with a 11-4 Game 3 victory.
The Barons started the night off red hot starting RHP Matt Thompson delivered three strikeouts to sit down the opposition in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first the Barons may not have gotten anything on the scoreboard but a newcomer to Birmingham has been adjusting well to Double-A ball.
Terrell Tatum has led off in all three games that he has been with the Barons and in those three games he has recorded a hit in each one. Tatum is now at four hits in three games with Birmingham, which adds to his total of 60 hits on the season.
The Barons and Trash Pandas battled it out for the next couple of innings with the score still being 0-0 heading into the fourth. In the top of the fourth, the Barons made a defensive change as Jose Rodriguez was subbed out from shortstop due to an undisclosed reason. With the swap, Taylor Snyder slid over from first base to shortstop and Chris Shaw came into the ballgame to play first. Despite the movement, the Barons defense kept up their stingy play and closed out the top of the fourth with the game still scoreless.
Birmingham's defense collected the final out of the inning of a cheeky double play that put Shaw to the test right away. A grounder to Ramos was swung to Womack and then finished with a relay to Shaw at first (5-4-3). The double-play put a damper on the away team's hopes and allowed for the Barons to head into the bottom of the fourth with a chance to take the lead, which is just what they did.
In the bottom of the fourth, Womack managed a walk in five pitchers to get a base runner for the Barons. After the walk, Luis Mieses smashed a ball down the third base line to advance Womack to third and himself to second. Birmingham, now with two runners in scoring position, knew they had to take advantage of the opportunity they had. Xavier Fernandez delivered when they needed it as his power swing sent a ball into the depths of right field to score Womack from third.
The Barons may have stranded Mieses at second, nevertheless, the confidence on the mound from Thompson kept the game in Birmingham's control.
Thompson in his final inning of work allowed a run, however, the run would not impact the right-handers ERA because he reached on an error. Thompson finished off the fifth to end his night at 5.0 IP. The Chicago White Sox No. 14 prospect finished the night with three hits and one run allowed to go with his six strikeouts. Thompson's zero earned runs was the first the right-hander has collected on the season.
Thompson's impact on the mound isn't shown through the stats or the score, at the time, but it was evident the Barons wanted to reward his efforts and steal back the lead.
Birmingham with the added motivation scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The scoring parade started with a three run blast from Shaw, which left the park in a hurry as it traveled 432 feet with an exit velocity of 108. The two runners that were on base during the moonshot were Ben Norman and Tatum, who both garnered walks. The walks started to pile up for the Trash Pandas as Bryan Ramos collected his lone walk of the night and caused a pitching change.
No matter the pitcher on the mound for the Trash Pandas, it seemed as though the Barons had them figured out. Once the change happened, Womack smacked a single into right field to advance the hustling Ramos to third. Womack soon followed his seventh steal of the season to put runners at second and third with Adam Hackenberg walking up to the plate.
Hackenberg entered the game leading the Barons in batting average with a .277 and that was needed as the home side wanted more in the inning. The designated hitter delivered a single to leftfield and scored the two runners in scoring position in the process. Birmingham entered the bottom of the fifth in a 1-1 tie and finished it leading Rocket City 6-1.
LHP Haylen Green inherited the five run lead in the sixth capturing a strikeout and allowing an unearned run. Green also allowed two more runs in the seventh inning on a demolished two run shot from Jeremiah Jackson. Rocket City closed the gap to two runs, yet the Barons always seemed to have an answer tonight when the game would get too close.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Mieses got the Barons on the base paths with a single to leftfield, and with a walk by Hackenberg Birmingham had a runner in scoring position with one out. Fernandez smacked a single into right field to score Mieses from second and collect his second RBI of the night.
After the lead was padded by Fernandez, the Barons turned to LHP Gil Lune for his lone inning of work in the top of the eighth. In the eighth, Luna did not allow a hit or run to go with his one strikeout. The lead was protected; however, the Barons bats did not feel like the lead was that comfortable.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Barons collected four more runs to bring the score to 11-4. The Barons collected their runs with a RBI single from Ramos and a three-run homer from Mieses. Ramos' RBI single tallied his sixth game in a row with a hit as well as marked his 15th RBI of the season.
Mieses' home run went a total distance of 407 feet and recorded an exit velocity of 101, however that was not the most impressive part. The slugger has now recorded four home runs in three games and is now sitting at nine RBIs on the series.
The Barons then entered the top of the ninth with a seven-run lead and handed over the mound to their most trusted arm in LHP Ben Holmes. Holmes slammed the ballgame to a close in four batters.
Birmingham collected its second win in the series and now sits with the advantage going into Game 4. The Barons will look to build upon Game 3's dominant performance as they send LHP Garrett Schoenle out to the mound for the Saturday affair.
• Discuss this story on the Southern League message board...
Southern League Stories from July 1, 2023
- Fast Start Powers 7-4 Trash Pandas Win - Rocket City Trash Pandas
- Shuckers Drop Slugfest to M-Braves, 11-5 - Biloxi Shuckers
- Franklin V Homers Three Times in 11-5 Win over Shuckers - Mississippi Braves
- Blue Wahoos Rally to Defeat Biscuits, 5-3 - Montgomery Biscuits
- Hostetler Homer Helps Blue Wahoos Beat Biscuits - Pensacola Blue Wahoos
- Shaw and Mieses Lead the Way for Barons 11-4 Win over Trash Pandas - Birmingham Barons
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.
