After winning only five of 12 games versus the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and Chattanooga Lookouts across their most recent homestand, the Birmingham Barons hit the road and opened a six-game series versus the Biloxi Shuckers on July 6. Entering this series, the Shuckers had lost 12 of their previous 13 contests, and sat at the bottom of the Double-A South South Division with an atrocious 16-37 record.
Despite Biloxi’s poor record, the Barons have arguably been just as bad over the past month. Since June 5, the Barons have lost 16 of 24 games, and have fallen into second place in the Double-A South North Division.
In the opening game of this series, Romy Gonzalez would give the Barons an immediate spark by driving in a two-run homer in the first inning. Biloxi would tie the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the third, but White Sox No. 6 prospect Micker Adolfo would answer back by doubling in two runs to give Birmingham a 4-2 lead at the end of six frames.
JJ Muno would put the Shuckers away for good to begin the eighth inning. The 27-year old second baseman crushed a solo home run to right center field, extending the Barons’ lead to 5-2. Neither team would score again, and Birmingham would come away with the game one victory.
While the Barons’ offense shined in game one, the pitching staff was just as instrumental in the win. Left-hander John Parke pitched the first five innings, striking out three batters and allowing only two earned runs on four hits. Relievers Emilio Vargas and Bennett Sousa also excelled for Birmingham, combining to strike out six batters over four innings while only giving up one hit.
In game two, however, the Barons would fall short on both offense and defense. Birmingham only managed to record four hits on the night, as Biloxi’s pitching staff would combine to strike out 11 batters.
The Barons bounced back from one of their worst offensive performances of the season by exploding for 12 runs in game three. Despite finishing the first two innings scoreless, Laz Rivera and Romy Gonzalez would hit singles in consecutive at-bats to kickstart the Barons’ offense in the third inning. Adolfo would follow up with a single of his own, scoring Rivera to give Birmingham a 2-0 lead.
In the next at-bat, first baseman Jameson Fisher doubled on a line drive to right field, scoring both Micker Adolfo and Carlos Perez to extend the Barons’ lead to 4-0. Craig Dedelow would double in one more run to close out an explosive five-run third inning for Birmingham.
To lead off the fifth, Romy Gonzalez would reach first base on a single. With Gonzalez at first, Adolfo stepped to the plate and drove in his 13th home run of the season to give the Barons a 7-2 lead.
As if Adolfo’s two-run homer wasn’t enough salt in the wound for Biloxi, Craig Dedelow would follow Adolfo’s lead and clobber in a three-run homer of his own just minutes later, extending the Barons’ lead to 10-2. Thanks to an RBI triple from JJ Muno, two more runs would score for Birmingham to push their lead to 12-2, which would ultimately be the final score for this contest.
The Barons’ 12 runs versus Biloxi marked the team’s fourth highest scoring total of the season. This strong offense carried over into game four of the series, where Birmingham would secure another victory over the Shuckers by a score of 5-2.
JJ Muno, Joel Booker, and Micker Adolfo powered the Barons’ offense in game four. Muno and Booker each recorded two hits, while Adolfo finished 1-for-2 at the plate with two RBIs. Starting pitcher Konnor Pilkington anchored the defense, striking out six batters in five innings and only allowing one earned run on one hit.
On Thursday, the Barons recorded 13 hits, which is the same amount of hits they recorded in their 12-2 game three victory. Five different Barons recorded two hits, as Zack Granite and Romy Gonzalez both finished 2-for-5 at the plate. Jameson Fisher, Craig Dedelow, and Xavier Fernandez each finished 2-for-4, while three different Barons recorded at least one hit.
While this may not have been a successful road trip for the Barons record-wise, there were still many performances and bright spots worth highlighting.
Romy Gonzalez powered the Barons’ offense this week, finishing a solid 9-for-26 with five RBIs and one home run. Even though Micker Adolfo only played four of six games, he also had an excellent week at the plate, finishing 5-for-15 with a home run and six RBIs.
Carlos Perez had an impressive week for the Barons, finishing 7-for-22 with a home run and three RBIs, while Craig Dedelow finished 6-for-24 at the plate with two home runs and seven RBIs.
John Parke, Kade McClure, and Konnor Pilkington each picked up wins on the mound for Birmingham as well. The most impressive of these performances definitely came from Pilkington, who struck out six and only allowed one earned run in five innings.
Following this road trip, the Barons currently hold a 31-28 record, and are 2.0 games behind the Chattanooga Lookouts for first place in the Double-A South North Division.
Game one of the Barons’ next home series will kick off on July 13 at 7:05 pm CT. The Rocket City Trash Pandas are coming to Regions Field, and trail the Birmingham Barons by 2.5 games in the standings.
Photo credit: Caleb Probst/FutureSox
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