Cease Twirls Gem In 9-1 Barons Win

Behind a nearly perfect performance from Dylan Cease and an offensive eruption, the Birmingham Barons (52-49) crushed the Tennessee Smokies (50-53) 9-1 on Wednesday night at Regions Field. The win is the Barons fourth in a row and clinches their third straight series win.

• Turning Point: Early on, Cease set the tone for the rest of his start by striking out two in a perfect first inning. After the Barons got him the lead on a Zack Collins RBI single in the bottom half, Cease proved that would be plenty of support.
• By The Numbers: In a dominant start, Cease (W, 2-0) was in fine form, not giving up a base runner of any kind until the seventh inning and retiring the first 20 hitters he faced. Although he couldn't finish the perfect game, it was a night to be proud of for the right-hander while pitching against his former organization. Over 7.0 magnificent innings, Cease gave up just one hit and one walk while tying a career-high with 12 strikeouts to earn his second Double-A win.
• Quotable: "I was getting ahead of the batters and I was mixing in all of my pitches," Cease said. "It felt like all of my pitches were as good as they've ever been and that's what made me so dominant. This is the best outing I've ever had."
• Moments That Mattered: Offensively, the Barons jumped ahead early and never looked back. Alex Call hit an RBI single in the second inning to double the lead. In the fourth, Matt Rose's two-run home run, his team-leading 14th of the season, gave the Barons a 4-0 lead. In the eighth, Collins added a solo home run, his 12th of the season, to give the Barons the 9-1 lead that proved to be the final.
• Facts And Figures: Rose led the way by going 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs while finishing a triple short of the cycle. Call and Collins each added two hits and two RBIs and Luis Basabe extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single as the Barons extended their winning streak to a season-high four games.
• Up Next: The two sides continue the series at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday night at Regions Field. Matt Tomshaw (4-4, 5.38) is set to start for Birmingham against Tennessee's Matt Swarmer (1-3, 4.25). Curt Bloom will have the call on 960 WERC News Radio and the iHeart Radio app.