Two Rain Delays Yield Barons Second Consecutive Loss, 9-5 to Smokies

For the first time since June 9th and June 10th, the Barons dropped their second straight game, 9-5 to the Smokies

Tennessee broke the seal in the third inning after the first rain delay with a Yonathan Perlaza double to plate Luis Vazquez.

Then the second rain delay took place, and lasted just over an hour. Out of the break, Will Carter made his Birmingham debut in relief of starter Scott Blewett. The righty allowed one run and two hits in 3.1 IP. Carter held his ground for 1.2 IP. Then Karan Patel came in for his Barons debut. The recently promoted Winston-Salem Dash went 1.1 IP and allowed two runs in the sixth inning. Bryce Ball brought Jake Slaughter in with a sacrifice fly to right field. Then Matt Mervis scored on an Alexander Canario single to left field.

Birmingham responded right away with two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Barons generated a run when Jose Rodriguez grounded out to second to allow Evan Skoug to score. With two outs, Tyler Neslony ripped his league-leading 26th double to set the table for an RBI single from Moises Castillo. That made it 3-2 in favor of the Smokies.

After lefty reliever Fraser stranded the bases loaded in the seventh, the Baron got into trouble that he could not navigate out of in the eighth. Harrison Wenson hit a bloop RBI single, his 10th run driven in this season. After that, Alexander Canario scored on a fielding error by Moises Castillo at shortstop. Ellard walked in a run to make it 6-2 before being pulled for Taylor Broadway. After striking out the first batter he faced, Broadway allowed a two-run double to Matt Mervis. Soon after that, Perlaza came in on a wild pitch to make it 9-2.

The Barons scored two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to inch closer, but the comeback fell short.

The series resumes on Wednesday. Emilio Vargas (1-1, 5.22) gets the nod for Birmingham. Riley Thompson (0-2, 9.37) will go for Tennessee. First pitch is at 7:05 CT.