On August 22, the Birmingham Barons closed out a 7-game road trip with an ugly 7-1 loss versus the bottom-ranked team in the Double-A South North Division, the Tennessee Smokies. The Barons, who entered the trip with the best record in the North Division, would finish the road series with a meager 3-4 record.
Despite Birmingham losing four of seven versus the Smokies, they still ended this series at the top of their division with a solid 51-44 record. The Barons would get a chance to bounce back from this 3-4 road trip starting on August 24, as the Montgomery Biscuits would travel to Birmingham for a six-game series with the Barons.
Entering this series, the Barons and Biscuits both sported 51-44 records. On paper, these teams are evenly matched, so it wasn’t surprising to see Birmingham and Montgomery split this six-game series right down the middle, as both teams would win three games apiece.
It was a tough week for the Barons on offense, as the squad would only score 19 total runs across six games. However, Jameson Fisher finished 8-for-22 at the plate in six games against the Biscuits, while Xavier Fernandez (7-for-19) and Craig Dedelow (5-for-18, 5 BB) would also help shoulder the offensive load for Birmingham.
Jameson Fisher recorded three hits on two different occasions versus Montgomery, once on August 27 and once on August 28. Fisher would combine to bat 6-for-9 across these two outings, while also recording two doubles and three RBIs. Xavier Fernandez would also record three hits and an RBI on August 27.
In each of the Barons’ three wins over the Biscuits, it was the pitching staff who would carry the weight. To open the series, right-hander Johan Dominguez would pitch five innings and strike out six batters while only allowing one earned run in a 2-1 Barons victory. Relievers Brian Glowicki and Luis Ledo also came out strong, each pitching two innings and combining to strike out five more batters.
Birmingham’s second win of the series came on August 26, as the Barons would shut down the Biscuits’ offense in an impressive 3-0 victory. Blake Battenfield started for the Barons and pitched one of his best games of the season, striking out eight and allowing zero earned runs. Despite Battenfield’s strong performance, reliever Declan Cronin would earn the win on the mound for Birmingham.
The Barons would win their third game of the series on August 28, as once again, the pitching staff showed up big in a commanding 5-1 victory. Jason Bilous started for Birmingham and pitched four innings, allowing three hits and one earned run. Reliever Ofreidy Gomez would take over in the fifth and pitch three innings, shutting out the Biscuits and subsequently earning his fifth win of the season on the mound.
In each of Birmingham’s wins, the pitching staff did their job. However, the same can’t be said for their losses. In game two of the series, the Barons would fall to the Biscuits by a score of 9-2 as a result of Birmingham’s pitchers giving up 15 hits. The same story unfolded in game six, as Birmingham would surrender 11 hits en route to a 8-4 loss.
Despite Johan Dominguez performing well in the opening game of the series, everything fell apart for him in the closing game of the series. Dominguez would allow seven hits and seven earned runs across only four innings. While this may seem bad, it certainly wasn’t as bad as J.B. Olson allowing six hits and six earned runs across only 1.1 innings in game two of the series.
It was also an off-week for Barons starting pitcher Emilio Vargas. The skilled right-handed pitcher would pick up his second loss of the season in game two, surrendering eight hits and two earned runs across six innings.
Reliever Caleb Freeman also had a series worth mentioning. The 23-year old righty only played three total innings versus Montgomery, but managed to record six strikeouts while only giving up two hits. Reliever Alec Hansen also had a surprisingly good week, striking out five batters across two innings while allowing zero earned runs.
In a week where the Barons’ offense floundered, it was the pitching staff that helped this team stay alive. In fact, Birmingham’s pitching directly influenced the outcome of nearly every game in this six-game series.
With so many of Birmingham’s top performers being promoted to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, these Barons need all the strong performances they can get, whether it be from their batters or their bullpen. Regardless, Birmingham managed to squeeze out a 3-3 record versus one of the top teams in the Double-A South conference, which certainly shouldn’t be ignored.
With this series in the books, the Barons (54-47) are now headed back to Tennessee for another seven-game road series, this time versus the Chattanooga Lookouts (47-48). Game one will kick off on Tuesday, August 31 at 6:15 pm CT.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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