On a night where the Birmingham Barons offense appeared to be dead in the water, Jameson Fisher stepped up and led his team to a much-needed victory. Fisher would drive in three home runs for the first time in his career versus the Chattanooga Lookouts on Friday, and each of these homers couldn’t have taken place at a better time.
In the bottom of the first inning with two outs and two runners on base, the Barons couldn’t afford to exit the inning scoreless. Thankfully for Birmingham, Fisher stepped to the plate and homered to left field, giving the Barons a 3-0 lead at the end of the opening frame.
These three runs proved to be crucial, as the Lookouts would go on to score five runs of their own across the second and third innings to take a 5-3 lead over the Barons.
With Birmingham still trailing by two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Jameson Fisher decided to take it upon himself to cut into the Lookouts’ lead. The 27-year-old outfielder would drive in his second home run of the game, this time to right field, to trim the Barons’ deficit to one run.
In the next at-bat following Fisher’s home run, Craig Dedelow would reach first base on a walk. Dedelow would then proceed to steal second base, which set the stage perfectly for Tyler Neslony’s next plate appearance.
Neslony would single on a well-hit ground ball that reached deep left field, and Dedelow would score to tie the ballgame at 5-5 with three innings left to play.
Hitting two home runs in a single game is already an impressive feat, but Fisher decided to add one final home run to his total in the bottom of the eighth.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Facing a 0-0 count, Fisher homered once more to center field, giving Birmingham a 6-5 lead heading into the ninth inning. Reliever Anderson Severino would shut out the ninth inning to record his second save of the season, and the Barons would come out victorious for the third time in four games.
This was a career night for Fisher. He finished 3-for-3 at the plate with three home runs and a walk, and there is no way that Birmingham could have won this game without him.
Fisher accounted for three of the Barons’ seven hits on Friday. The only other players to record hits were Lenyn Sosa (2-for-4), Tyler Neslony (1-for-3), and Yasmani Grandal (1-for-4).
Birmingham’s bullpen was also key in this victory. Starting pitcher Taylor Varnell had a shaky outing, allowing nine hits and five earned runs across the first five innings alone. Blake Battenfield stepped in and pitched three innings for the Barons, and wouldn’t allow a single earned run. Battenfield recorded the win on the mound, his seventh of the season.
This Barons team is resilient. Even with the plethora of changes that this roster has gone through, this squad has still managed to maintain a winning mentality. Birmingham remains at the top of the Double-A South North Division, and they currently lead the second-place Rocket City Trash Pandas by 3.0 games.
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.