For the first time this season, the Birmingham Barons have lost back-to-back games, falling to the Montgomery Biscuits on Thursday by a score of 5-2. The Barons have been outscored 21-6 across their last two defeats.
Birmingham fell behind 1-0 after one inning, but a double by third baseman Laz Rivera sparked the Barons’ offense in the second. JJ Muno followed with an RBI single to tie the ballgame.
The Biscuits immediately answered back in the third, as Dillon Paulson hit his first RBI of the game to help Montgomery retake the lead, 2-1. Biscuits pitcher Faustino Carrera held the Barons scoreless for the next three frames, but in the bottom of the sixth inning, Birmingham would receive a huge spark from an unexpected player.
Carlos Perez, who is batting .239 for the Barons in 46 at-bats this season, hit his first home run of the season to tie the game once again. Through six innings, the Barons recorded seven hits, which is one more hit than they recorded in their entire game on Wednesday.
Birmingham wouldn’t score another run for the rest of the game, but despite their lack of scoring, they were still given multiple opportunities to drive in runs throughout the final three innings. The offense simply couldn’t capitalize.
In the bottom of the seventh, Birmingham found themselves down 4-2 with two men on base. Rivera would ultimately ground out to end the inning. A similar scenario unfolded in the bottom of the ninth down three runs, where Zack Granite was up to bat with both Joel Booker and Gunnar Troutwine on base. Granite would fly out, ending all chances of a dramatic comeback.
Eight different players would record hits for the Barons. Perez and Muno recorded multi-hit efforts.
Left-hander Konnor Pilkington made his third start of 2021 and allowed two runs on six hits while striking out five and walking three. His ERA stands at 2.40 across 15 innings in Birmingham. Bennett Sousa struck out one in a scoreless ninth. He’s allowed just one earned run in five appearances to this point of the young campaign.
There are certainly bright spots in this loss for the Barons. The offense found a rhythm after a dismal showing on Wednesday, and they will be right back at home on Friday with a chance to tie this series versus the Biscuits.
The Barons fell to 10-5 with the loss. Birmingham looks to bounce back on Friday night at 7:05p CT.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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