On July 11, Mississippi Braves right fielder Tyler Neslony was traded to the Chicago White Sox, and subsequently assigned to the Birmingham Barons. Neslony has performed well in his first 15 games with the Barons, batting an impressive 22-for-51 (.431) with a slugging percentage of .831.
Neslony has fit in seamlessly with his new team, and on Thursday night, he would galvanize a crowd of over 5,000 fans at Regions Field in Birmingham.
With two outs and a 3-2 count in the bottom of the third inning, Neslony would drive in his first career grand slam to give the Barons a commanding 5-0 lead over his former team, the Mississippi Braves. Birmingham would go on to win by a score of 7-2.
In the Barons’ previous game on Wednesday, they wouldn’t score their first run until the 11th inning. On Thursday, Romy Gonzalez helped Birmingham get on the board much faster.
To lead off the bottom of the first, Gonzalez would double on a line drive to left field. Xavier Fernandez then stepped to the plate and singled in Gonzalez to give the Barons an early 1-0 lead.
Through the first three innings, the Braves were held scoreless thanks to stellar pitching from Barons starter Emilio Vargas. The right-hander would strike out seven of the first nine batters he faced, and eventually earn the win on the mound.
To kick off the bottom of the third, Yolbert Sanchez would single on a well-hit ground ball to Braves shortstop Braden Shewmake. In the next two at-bats, Jameson Fisher and Craig Dedelow would each draw walks to load the bases and set the stage for Neslony’s grand slam. Neslony homered to center field, and the rest is history.
Birmingham would score twice more in the sixth inning. To lead off the inning, Neslony reached first base on a walk. Ian Dawkins would then hit a triple down the left foul line to score Neslony and give the Barons a 6-1 lead. In the next at-bat, Dawkins would score on a single from Mitch Roman to extend Birmingham’s lead to 7-1.
Mississippi would score once more in the top of the ninth, but to no avail. The Barons dominated this game, and have now won five of their last six contests.
Birmingham’s offense looked as strong as ever, but their pitching staff was arguably more impressive. Starting pitcher Emilio Vargas struck out 12 batters in five innings and allowed only one hit. Vargas now boasts a record of 5-1 on the mound.
Relievers Alec Hansen, Peter Tago, and J.B. Olsen would combine to strike out seven more batters across the final four innings. Hansen and Olson would each allow three hits and one earned run, but the Barons’ offense was simply too strong for the Braves to put together a real rally.
With this strong victory, the Barons improve to 44-36. They will look to win their third consecutive game versus the Braves on Friday at 7:05 pm CT.
Photo credit: Caleb Probst/FutureSox
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