Veras Hits 2 Home Runs in Barons 12-8 Win against Smokies
Wilfred Veras hit two home runs to lead the Birmingham Barons to a 12-8 road win against the Tennessee Smokies before 3,170 at Smokies Stadium on Thursday night. When the Barons pitching led Birmingham for most of the season, they pounded out 13 hits in a game where they needed
Wilfred Veras hit two home runs to lead the Birmingham Barons to a 12-8 road win against the Tennessee Smokies before 3,170 at Smokies Stadium on Thursday night. When the Barons pitching led Birmingham for most of the season, they pounded out 13 hits in a game where they needed it.
Veras went 3-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs, three runs scored, and a walk in the win. Tyler Neslony added three hits with an RBI, scoring three runs. Edgar Quero went 2-for-4 with an RBI, two runs scored, and a walk.
The Barons (35-19) scored first in the game in the top of the first inning. Terrell Tatum singled to open the game. Jacob Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Tatum, and the Barons took a 1-0 lead. The Smokies came right back at the bottom of the first inning when Kevin Alcantara doubled to the right field, scoring Matt Shaw. The game was tied at 1-1.
In the top of the fourth inning, Neslony singled on a ground ball to right field. Veras followed with a home run to left field, scoring Neslony, and the Barons led 3-1. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Luis Verdugo hit a 2-run home run to tie the game at 3-3. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Smokies took the lead on an Alcantara fielder's choice and a Verdugo RBI single. Tennessee took a 5-3 lead.
In the top of the sixth inning, Quero singled to left field, followed by a Neslony RBI double to center field, scoring Quero. Veras hits a home run to right field, his seventh of the season, and the Barons take a 6-5 lead. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Shaw hit an RBI single, scoring Ezequiel Pagan and Josh Rivera. The Smokies take a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Ballesteros homered to center field, and the Smokies took an 8-6 lead.
The Barons battled back in the eighth inning and took back the lead for good. A Michael Turner RBI single to left field scored Quero and Neslony. The Barons tied the game at 8-8. Alsander Womack RBI single to center field scored Veras. A Smokies pass ball scored Turner, and a wild pitch scored Womack. Jacob Gonzalez's sacrifice fly to left field scored Tatum, and the Barons led 12-8.
Winning pitcher Jake Palisch (1-1, 1.56) went one inning in relief, giving up three hits and one earned run. Andrew Dalquist shut down the Smokies in the eighth inning, while Eric Adler pulled the same in the Smokie's ninth inning to preserve the Baron's 12-8 win.
Next, the Barons will face the Smokies on Friday night in game three of the six-game road trip as LHP Jake Eder (2-1, 4.01) takes the mound for the Barons.