Barons Pound Out 11 Hits in the 9-3 Win Over the Smokies
By Jeff Allison Matt Hogan hit a home run with five RBIs as the Birmingham Barons won 9-3 over the Tennessee Smokies before 2,894 at Regions Field on Tuesday night. The Barons pounded out 11 hits. Infielder Jason Matthews went 3-for-3 with four runs scored in the win. Starting pitcher
By Jeff Allison
Matt Hogan hit a home run with five RBIs as the Birmingham Barons won 9-3 over the Tennessee Smokies before 2,894 at Regions Field on Tuesday night. The Barons pounded out 11 hits. Infielder Jason Matthews went 3-for-3 with four runs scored in the win.
Starting pitcher Jairo Iriarte (3-5, 4.32) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up three hits, three earned runs, and three walks with four strikeouts. LHP Gil Luna (3-1, 2.35) pitched a solid seventh inning. RHP Andrew Dalquist (1-1, 2.01) pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts in the eighth and ninth.
Tennessee (0-1, 40-29) scored first in the game. A Christian Franklin RBI double scored Josh Rivera, and the Smokies took a 1-0 lead. Franklin scored on a balk, and the Smokies led 2-0. Yohendrick Pinango hit a sacrifice fly, scoring James Triantos, and Tennessee led 3-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, Barons (1-0, 42-28) first baseman Tim Elko hit an RBI double, scoring Jason Matthews and Jacob Gonzalez on the play. The Barons cut the lead down to 3-2. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Matthews singled on a line drive to left field. Hogan follows it up with a home run to right field. With the two runs, the Barons took a 4-3 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Alsander Womack walked. Matthews singled, putting runners on the corner. Hogan singled to right field, scoring Womack. The Barons take a 5-3 lead. Hogan steals second. Brooks Baldwin doubles down the right field line, scoring Matthews and Hogan. The Barons took a 7-3 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Womack doubled to right field. Matthews walked, and Hogan doubled down the right-field line, scoring Womack and Matthews. With those two runs, the Barons led 9-3.
Hogan finished 4-for-4 with five RBIs, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Matthews was 3-for-3 with four runs scored and a walk. Elko had a single and two RBIs in the win. Next, the Barons will play game two against the Smokies in the six-game series on Wednesday. LHP Tyler Schweitzer (2-0, 3.00) will take the mound for the Barons.