Birmingham Falls 6-1 to Tennessee

The Birmingham Barons were not able to keep their streak of two-consecutive wins alive as they fell to the Tennessee Smokies 6-1. The two foes kept the game close, but eventually the Barons could not outlast their errors for the whole game.

Tennessee was able to capitalize on the lackluster defensive performance by Birmingham, scoring two of their runs on wild pitchers/bad throws. However even with the errors by the Barons, the Smokies offense was sufficient on their own as they hit three solo home runs. Two of those home runs came in the second inning to secure the early lead.

Birmingham’s right-handed starter Matt Thompson did give up the early shots, but those were the only blemishes on his final stateline. Thompson would finish the game with 5.0 IP with seven strikeouts, six hits and one walk.

The Chicago White Sox No. 14 prospect displayed a lot of resilience tonight, more so than his stateline will attest to. The 22 year-old was able to fight through a lot of tough innings, and continue to deal after giving up two early homers.

Thompson kept the game to within two runs for as long as the youngster could. The Barons finally repaid him with a solo shot of their own in the bottom of the fifth.

After grounding out in his first at-bat of the night, third-baseman Taylor Snyder sent his first home run of the season to left field to cut the Smokies lead in half. The Barons were able to cut the lead, but the momentum stayed on the away teams sides.

The Smokies were able to escape the fifth, sitting down the next three batters in eight pitches, two ending in strikeouts.

Tennessee then added to their lead in the following innings, scoring on a wild pitch and a RBI single.

Birmingham only down a mere three runs with two opportunities left at the plate, turned to a sure hand in Caleb Freeman to tackle to top of the eighth. The right-hander did what he was called upon to do: Not letting the lead expand. Freeman finished his sole inning of work as efficiently as possible with 10-of-12 pitches being called strikes.

Despite the efforts from Freeman, the Barons were unsuccessful to cut into the lead in the bottom of eighth, as well as gave up two runs in the ninth. The two runs in the top of the ninth were ones that had haunted the Barons all night: A solo homerun and a wild pitch leading to a score.

Birmingham finished the night with five total errors, which is a recipe for disaster. The Barons, even with the errors, did not help themselves out with only mustering up four hits on the night.

Birmingham last beat the Smokies on Opening Day of the 2023 season, so they have an idea of how to combat the opposition. Even though a lot of time has passed since then, it should give the fans hope that the home team could turn it around in the series.