Mercedez Cycles Barons to Win: L, 12-3

Mississippi and Birmingham went back-and-forth until the fifth when the Barons put a five-spot on the board to push their lead to 7-3. Birmingham went on to win, 12-3.

Birmingham jumped on top in the third when Donny Lucy doubled and scored on a single by Victor Mercedes. Mercedes hit the walk-off two-run homer last night and put the Barons on top 1-0 today.

The M-Braves responded with two runs in the fourth when Mark Jurich belted his third homer of the year, a two-run shot out to right. It was the first homer that Jack Egbert had given up all year.

Birmingham came right back in the bottom of the inning to tie the score at two. Cory Aldridge doubled and came in to score on a sac fly by Ricardo Nanita.

The Braves went back on top in the fifth when Carl Loadenthal walked, stole second, and scored on a single by Diory Hernandez.

The Barons came back in the bottom of the fifth. Birmingham got four hits and three walks and plated five runs in the fifth inning. After five, the Barons led the Braves 7-3.

Birmingham extended its lead to 10-3 in the sixth on a Victor Mercedes home run, three singles and a walk.

The Barons added two more runs in the seventh after Mercedes hit a triple to become the first Southern Leaguer to hit for the cycle since Reggie Jackson did it back on July 8th, 1967.

Moises Hernandez gave up seven runs on seven hits through 4.1 innings in his AA debut. He fell to 0-1 on the year. Charlie Morton gave up three runs on five hits through 1.2 innings pitched. Tyler Bullock gave up two runs on two hits in two innings of work.

Jack Egbert gave up three runs on six hits through five innings of work and improved to 6-4. Carlos Torres threw three scoreless innings and Tim Bittner threw a scoreless ninth.

The Braves and Barons play game five of this five-game series tomorrow at 11:05 am. Mississippi is scheduled to send lefty Kelvin Villa (3-4, 5.71) to the hill in search of his fourth win of the year while Birmingham is scheduled to send lefty Wes Whisler (3-6, 4.30) to the hill in search of his fourth win.

by
Nick Skinner
(Mississippi Braves.com)