Trailing 2-0 into the bottom of the ninth, the Birmingham Barons rallied for three runs to earn an unlikely 3-2 comeback victory over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos on Thursday night. The win was the second in walk-off fashion in as many days.
Through the first eight innings, the only two Barons players to record hits were second baseman J.J. Muno and third baseman Laz Rivera. Muno and Rivera combined to hit 3-for-5 on the night, while the rest of Birmingham’s starters finished 0-for-17 at the plate through eight frames.
Thankfully for the Barons, the pitching staff picked up the slack. Left-hander John Parke started for Birmingham and recorded five strikeouts across the first two innings alone. Parke would pitch five innings, only allowing two hits and one earned run.
Emilio Vargas finished the contest, recording four strikeouts and allowing only one run on four hits. In the top of the eighth inning with no outs and bases loaded, Vargas would strike out three consecutive batters to prevent Pensacola from getting on the board again.
On Wednesday night, the Birmingham Barons found themselves down 5-0 versus the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, but rallied to win 7-6. Micker Adolfo was the Barons’ hero in that game, recording the walk-off home run in the ninth inning to seal the comeback victory.
Adolfo was intentionally walked in the ninth, so one of his teammate’s had a chance to bask in glory. Pensacola would walk two more batters, which loaded the bases and allowed Barons’ left fielder Zack Granite to double in two runs for Birmingham, tying the score 2-2.
With two men on base and only one out, Barons’ slugger Craig Dedelow stepped up and clobbered a sacrifice fly to center field. Romy Gonzalez scored, clinching the Barons’ second consecutive come-from-behind victory over the Blue Wahoos.
The Barons appear to be finding their footing again after a shaky two-week road trip where the team lost nine of twelve games. Nonetheless, Birmingham has now won consecutive games for the first time since June 5. They look to carry this same momentum into the final three games of this series versus the Blue Wahoos, who lead the Double-A South South Division with a 27-18 record.
Birmingham improves to 25-19 with Thursday’s victory, and will face Pensacola at Regions Field again on Friday night at 7:05 P.M. CT.
Photo credit: Caleb Probst/FutureSox
Want to know right away when we publish a new article? Type your email address in the box on the right-side bar (or at the bottom on a mobile device) and click create subscription. Our list is completely spam free and you can opt out at any time. Also, consider supporting FutureSox on Patreon! You can get early access to special articles and Patreon-only posts, in addition to more benefits.
Shop our exclusive merchandise! Show your support with FutureSox apparel.