SL1 Birmingham Barons

Villanueva Goes Distance; Beats Barons 3-1

Published on July 19, 2010 under Southern League (SL1)
Birmingham Barons News Release


The Birmingham Barons had nine innings to get to Jacksonville Suns starting pitcher Elih Villanueva, but couldn't as they managed just three hits in a 3-1 loss Monday night at Regions Park.

The Suns' All-Star game selection kept Barons hitters guessing all night long, retiring 12 batters in a row at one point. The lone blemish the Barons managed to put on Villanueva came in the sixth inning when Dale Mollenhauer led-off the inning with a single to center field. Mollenhauer came around to score two batters later when Eduardo Escobar poked a double down the left field line. That was the final man the Barons would put on base as Villanueva (10-4, 2.39) retired the final 10 hitters he faced.

Charlie Leesman (0-1, 6.75) pitched well enough in his second Double A start to keep the home team in the game. The lefty allowed just four hits in 5.0 innings, but he gave up two costly runs in the first three innings that put the Barons in a hole they wouldn't recover from.

Leesman came out a bit shaky in the first inning, walking Jeff Corsaletti to lead-off the game before allowing a single to Osvaldo Martinez. A double by Brandon Tripp put the Suns on the board with runners at second and third base and a chance to break the game open early. Leesman recovered nicely with back-to-back strikeouts to calm the onslaught.

The Suns added a second run in the third inning with a two-out double by Vinny Rottino that scored Martinez from first base. That was all the run support Villanueva needed on the night, though the Suns did add an insurance run in the ninth inning on a single by Chris Hatcher.

The two teams will play the series finale Tuesday night at Regions Park with a 7:05 PM start time. Johnnie Lowe (4-3, 4.26) will try to prevent the Suns from sweeping the Barons for the second time this season opposite Andrew Miller (1-5, 5.63). It will mark Lowe's fourth start against the Suns this season; two of his previous starts ended early for him as the games were suspended.

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Southern League Stories from July 19, 2010


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