Birmingham, AL — The Birmingham Barons snapped a two-game losing skid, striking out ten Biscuits batters en route to a 5-3 win Thursday night in front of 3,592 fans at Regions Park.
In a back and forth affair, the Barons took a 1-0 lead in the first, as the first three batters reached base against starter Matt Buschmann. Buschmann was able to escape with minimal damage, striking out Corey Smith and Jared Mitchell but surrendering an RBI single to Erik Morrison. However, Jose Martinez was thrown out at the plate attempting to score from second to prevent the Barons from taking further advantage.
The Biscuits would come back to knot the score in the top of the second, as Ryan Garko led off the inning with a single and scored on Tyler Bortnick's triple. Cameron Bayne was able to escape further damage by retiring the next three batters in order, stranding Bortnick at third.
The Biscuits took their first lead in the third as Ty Morrison tripled in Hak-Ju Lee for a 2-1 lead. The Barons would respond in the bottom half of the inning on a Jose Martinez RBI double to tie the game.
A Michael Sheridan solo home run in the top of the fourth would give the Biscuits a 3-2 lead but again the Barons would respond, tying the game at 3-3 on a double by Jose Castro in the bottom of the inning.
Jared Mitchell would put the Barons on top 4-3 for good in the 5th with a single to right. The lead would grow to 5-3 in the sixth as Seth Loman exacted some revenge after being hit by pitches in his first two at-bats by doubling in Jose Martinez. The top of the Barons lineup consisting of Tyler Saladino, Loman and Martinez went a combined 7-for-10 on the night with four runs scored and two RBI.
Bayne and reliever Santos Rodriguez combined to shut the Biscuits down the rest of the way, holding them scoreless over the last final innings. Bayne (4-2, 4.78) picked up the win scattering nine hits while allowing three runs over 7.0 innings and striking out seven. Rodriguez recorded the final six outs for his fourth save of the season.
