Tennessee Smokies Preview for Wednesday Night
June 26, 2024 - Southern League (SL)
Birmingham Barons News Release
TENNESSEE SMOKIES (0-1, 40-29) AT BIRMINGHAM BARONS (1-0, 42-28)
RHP Brandon Birdsell (3-4, 3.79) | LHP Tyler Schweitzer (2-0, 3.00)
Game #71 | Wednesday - June 26, 2024 | 7:00 pm | Regions Field | Birmingham, AL
MILB.tv | Bally Live | WJQX 100.5 - JOX 2
Upcoming Starters in Series
DATE TIME OPPONENT BARONS STARTERS OPPONENT STARTER
Thu, June 27 7:00 pm vs Tennessee LHP Jake Eder (2-4, 4.75) vs RHP Antonio Santos (0-1, 4.50)
Fri, June 28 7:00 pm vs Tennessee RHP Mason Adams (5-3, 2.15) vs RHP Matthew Thompson (1-3, 4.56)
Sat, June 29 6:30 pm vs Tennessee LHP Noah Schultz (0-1, 1.83) vs RHP Connor Noland (4-3, 2.98)
Sun, June 30 4:00 pm vs Tennessee LHP Ky Bush (5-2, 2.14) vs RHP Chris Kachmar (2-1, 3.99)
Mon, July 1 7:00 pm vs Rocket City RHP Jairo Iriarte (3-5, 4.32) vs TBA
Tue, July 2 7:00 pm vs Rocket City LHP Tyler Schweitzer (2-0, 3.00) vs TBA
Wed, July 3 6:00 pm vs Rocket City LHP Jake Eder (2-4, 4.75) vs TBA
LAST TIME OUT: Matt Hogan hit a home run with five RBIs as the Birmingham Barons won 9-3 over the Tennessee Smokies before 2,894 at Regions Field on Tuesday night. The Barons pounded out 11 hits. Infielder Jason Matthews went 3-for-3 with four runs scored in the win. Starting pitcher Jairo Iriarte (3-5, 4.32) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up three hits, three earned runs, and three walks with four strikeouts. LHP Gil Luna (3-1, 2.35) pitched a solid seventh inning. RHP Andrew Dalquist (1-1, 2.01) pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts in the eighth and ninth. Tennessee (0-1, 40-29) scored first in the game. A Christian Franklin RBI double scored Josh Rivera, and the Smokies took a 1-0 lead. Franklin scored on a balk, and the Smokies led 2-0. Yohendrick Pinango hit a sacrifice fly, scoring James Triantos, and Tennessee led 3-0. In the bottom of the third inning, Barons (1-0, 42-28) first baseman Tim Elko hit an RBI double, scoring Jason Matthews and Jacob Gonzalez on the play. The Barons cut the lead down to 3-2. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Matthews singled on a line drive to left field. Hogan followed it up with a home run to right field. With the two runs, the Barons took a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Alsander Womack walked. Matthews singled, putting runners on the corner. Hogan singled to right field, scoring Womack. The Barons took a 5-3 lead. Hogan stole second. Brooks Baldwin doubles down the right field line, scoring Matthews and Hogan. The Barons took a 7-3 lead. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Womack doubled to right field. Matthews walked, and Hogan doubled down the right-field line, scoring Womack and Matthews. With those two runs, the Barons led 9-3. Hogan finished 4-for-4 with five RBIs, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Matthews was 3-for-3 with four runs scored and a walk. Elko had a single and two RBIs in the win.
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE MONTH: First baseman Tim Elko batted .337/.382/.535 and led the league in average (.337), hits (34) and total bases (54), while finishing second in RBI (19), slugging percentage (.535) and OPS (.917). He was tied for third in triples (one) and was fourth in home runs (four) and fifth in runs (16). He recorded 11 multi-hit games and hit safely in 22 of 25 games. He began the month with a six-game hitting streak before going on a 14-game streak from May 11-28. Elko, 25, was selected by Chicago (AL) in the 10th round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of the University of Mississippi.
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE WEEK: LHP Ky Bush (5-2, 1.78) pitched 7.0 innings giving up only two hits, no earned runs, and no walks with three strikeouts in the Week of June 10-16. For June, Bush is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA with 13 strikeouts in three starts.
BARONS STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Tyler Schweitzer (2-0, 3.00) signed by the White Sox as a free agent in July 25, 2022. Played college baseball at Ball State. In 2023, by MiLB.com was named the organization's Pitching Prospect of the Year after posting a system-best 3.94 ERA across 107.1 innings at Single-A and Double-A.
LEAGUE LEADERS: Brooks Baldwin leads the Southern League with a .336 average and is second in OBP with a .405 mark. Also, he is first in hits with 86. Edgar Quero is tied for third with 11 home runs and first in RBIs with 49. Tim Elko is second in average at .316, is second in hits with 78, and third in total basis with 114. Wilfred Veras is tied for fifth in home runs with ten and is eighth in total bases with 104. Mason Adams is fifth in the league with 76 strikeouts and fourth in ERA with a 2.15. Jairo Iriarte is third in strikeouts with 81, while Ky Bush (5-2, 2.14) is third in ERA and sixth in strikeouts with 74 in the Southern League.
PROSPECT RANKINGS: The Barons current active roster features 12 of the White Sox's Top 30 prospects (according to MLB.com): LHP Noah Shultz (No. 2), RHP Drew Thorpe (No. 3), catcher Edgar Quero (No. 4), infielder Jacob Gonzalez (No. 7), RHP Jairo Iriarte (No. 9), LHP Jake Eder (No. 10), LHP Ky Bush (No. 17), RHP Mason Adams (No. 19), infielder Brooks Baldwin (No. 24), outfielder Wilfred Veras (No. 25), RHP Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa (No. 28), and outfielder Jacob Burke (No.30).
SOUTHERN LEAGUE STANDINGS:
North | 1st Birmingham 1-0 (---) | 1st Rocket City (---) | 3rd Tennessee 0-1 (1.0) | 3rd Chattanooga 0-1 (1.0)
South | 1st Biloxi 1-0 (---) | 1st Mississippi (---) | 3rd Montgomery 0-1 (1-0) | 3rd Pensacola 0-1 (1.0)
SERIES vs MONTGOMERY
6/25/24 | vs Tennessee | 7:00 pm | W 9-3 | 1-0, 42-28 | WP - J Iriarte (3-5) | LP - C Kachmar (2-2) | 2,894 | 2:20
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