Generals bats go quiet in loss

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. - The Jackson Generals, the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, struggled to solve Birmingham Barons right-hander Jimmy Lambert (1-0, 1.50 ERA) on Friday night, falling 8-1 at Regions Field.

The loss by the Generals (42-35, 3-5 Second Half) evens the series with Birmingham (37-39, 5-3 Second Half) at 1-1 heading into the weekend.
After a pair of quiet innings to open the contest, the Barons made Generals starter Bo Takahashi (0-3, 7.71 ERA) sore in the third inning, rallying into the lead with a four-run surge marked by Keon Barnum's two-run shot. Takahashi survived the home run, his sixth allowed in five Double-A starts, to complete five innings, striking out six and walking one while allowing only Barnum's hit to go for extra bases. Daniel Gibson and Kirby Bellow each worked a scoreless frame behind Takahashi, but the Generals ran into trouble in the eighth, as Mason McCullough allowed a grand slam to Birmingham's Matt Rose to make the score 8-1. Bud Jeter took over and piloted the Generals' plane through the rest of the inning without further damage.
Against the debuting Lambert, the Jackson offense had trouble finding its footing, scratching out only four hits during the right hander's six innings of work. A sacrifice fly from Jamie Westbrook finally brought home Domingo Leyba in the sixth to break up the shutout, but the Generals would only collect one further hit down the stretch. Leyba and Rudy Flores each had multiple hits, but six other Generals went 0-for-21 combined, stifling the attack. The Generals failed to get any hits with men in scoring position. Putting the ball in play has been hit or miss of late: in their last six games, Jackson is 1-5 with 44 hits and 44 strikeouts.
NEXT GENERALS GAME:
6:30 pm CT Saturday (6/30) vs. Birmingham Barons
Regions Field - Birmingham, Ala.
RHP Taylor Widener (4-4, 2.81 ERA) vs. LHP Bernardo Flores (0-1, 2.57 ERA)
Broadcast Link: Birmingham Barons Baseball Network (TuneIn)
UP AND COMING AT THE BALLPARK:
July 4-7 vs. Tennessee Smokies
…featuring Fourth of July Fireworks and Harry Potter Night (July 7)!
July 12-16 vs. Mobile BayBears
…featuring Jurassic Park Night (July 14) and Belly Buster Monday (July 16)!
The Jackson Generals, a West Tennessee baseball franchise since 1998, are the Double-A minor league affiliate of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. For tickets, the team's schedule, and more information about the Generals,
dial 731.988.5299 or log on to JacksonGeneralsBaseball.com!