After winning only three of 12 games versus the Montgomery Biscuits and Mississippi Braves on their most recent road trip, the Birmingham Barons returned home on June 22 and began a stretch of twelve consecutive games at Regions Field.
In game one of six versus the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, White Sox No. 6 prospect Micker Adolfo shined. He finished 3-for-4 at the plate with two home runs, two RBIs, and a single. However, this strong performance wasn’t enough to carry Birmingham, as the Blue Wahoos would close out the opener by a 4-3 final.
Birmingham’s pitchers combined for an impressive 13 strikeouts. Starter Konnor Pilkington struck out six in five innings, while only allowing two hits. Relievers J.B. Olson, Bennett Sousa, and Lane Ramsey would accumulate seven strikeouts across the final four frames.
Sadly for the Barons, this stellar pitching display didn’t carry over into game two. Right-hander Blake Battenfield started for Birmingham and pitched three innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Barons began to pick up some steam on offense. First baseman Jameson Fisher would triple on a ground ball to right field to drive in two runs for Birmingham. Second baseman Laz Rivera followed with a two-run blast to cut the Blue Wahoos’ lead to 5-4 entering the fifth inning. In the seventh, Zach Granite and Joel Booker both scored to give the Barons a 6-5 lead, their first lead of the series.
Pensacola would tie it at six in the eighth inning, but in the bottom of the ninth, Micker Adolfo stepped to the plate and crushed a solo home run to right center field that sealed the Barons comeback victory. This 7-6 walk-off win ended a streak of six consecutive losses for Birmingham.
As if the 5-0 comeback win in game two wasn’t enough, Birmingham would recover from a 2-0 deficit in the ninth inning of game three to steal a 3-2 victory over Pensacola. Despite the Barons’ offense struggling through the first eight innings, everything would come together in the bottom of the ninth.
Zack Granite would double in two runs to tie the score at 2-2, and Craig Dedelow followed by smashing a sacrifice fly to center field, which brought in Romy Gonzalez from third base to score, clinching the Barons’ second consecutive comeback victory over the Blue Wahoos.
On a night where Birmingham’s offense struggled, the pitching staff kept this game close, and made sure to prevent the score from getting out of hand like in game two. Left-hander John Parke started for the Barons, 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 would pitch for the remaining four innings, recording four strikeouts and allowing only one run on four hits.
Birmingham would fall in game four to Pensacola by a score of 6-1, but haven’t lost a game since. In game five of the series, the Barons would coast to a 5-3 victory thanks to strong pitching from starter Kade McClure, along with stellar hitting from catcher Xavier Fernandez and designated hitter Laz Rivera.
McClure would strike out eight batters in five innings and give up only two hits. Xavier Fernandez would finish 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a double, while Laz Rivera ended the night 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
The Barons followed this solid 5-3 victory with a masterful 10-3 victory in the final game of the series on Sunday. Birmingham scored these ten runs on only seven hits, and to nobody’s surprise, it was Micker Adolfo who led the charge on offense.
Adolfo recorded a season-high five RBIs and finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a solo home run and a double. Carlos Perez would also join in on the fun, hitting a solo home run of his own and finishing the game 2-for-3.
Konnor Pilkington took the loss in game one of this series, but bounced back to record the win in game six. The left-hander struck out eight batters across five innings, allowing two runs on only two hits. Relievers Luis Ledo and Andrew Perez added five strikeouts across two innings.
Adolfo certainly deserves praise for his performance in this series. The White Sox prospect ended the series with an impressive 7-for-21 mark at the plate, totaling four home runs and eight RBIs in the process.
Jameson Fisher was also impressive for the Barons, batting 6-for-19 across five games in this series. In game two, Fisher nearly hit for the cycle, accumulating a triple, double, and single in four at-bats.
Carlos Perez also paced the Barons offense. His numbers aren’t too flashy, but he is the model of consistency for this squad on offense. Perez finished 6-for-18 at the plate across five games in this series. He may not be a big-time slugger like Micker Adolfo, but he always shows up to play and has recorded at least one hit in nine of his last ten games.
The Barons will kick off game one of six at Regions Field versus the Chattanooga Lookouts on June 29 at 7:05 PM CT.
Photo credit: Caleb Probst/FutureSox
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