BayBears Slip in Series Opener
HOOVER, Ala. – After three successive losses including a heartbreaker on Saturday, the BayBears were hoping to start anew on Sunday as they began a six-game set at Regions Park, but the Birmingham Barons walked away with a convincing 7-1 victory.
Birmingham (51-24, 3-3) ripped 13 hits as they improved to 26-9 on their home turf. They jumped on the board early as Tyler Flowers lifted an opposite-field home run with two outs in the first inning against Wes Roemer (3-5).
Roemer surrendered a couple more in the third as Flowers sparked a rally with a two-out single. He advanced to third on a double by Dayan Viciedo. Both men touched the plate as David Cook smacked a two-run single. Cook extending his league-high RBI total to 53.
The biggest threat for the BayBears (40-37, 3-4) happened in the fourth inning when Bryan Byrne commenced the frame by walking against Charlie Shirek (2-1). Byrne moved up to second and then to third on consecutive singles by Sean Coughlin and Cyle Hankerd.
Chris Rahl followed with a fielder’s choice grounder to short that brought Byrne home while Coughlin was forced out at third. Ricardo Sosa blooped a single to reload the bases, but James Skelton popped out to shallow center while Mark Hallberg was robbed of a game-tying base hit by second baseman C.J. Retherford to end the inning.
With Roemer out of the contest after five, the Barons pulled away late as John Shelby III doubled home Christian Marrero in the sixth against Ramon Sanchez to make it 4-1. In the seventh, Sanchez coughed up one more as Stefan Gartrell singled home Viciedo. Josh Ellis gave up a pair in the eighth as Shelby tripled in Robbie Hudson and scored on a groundout by Retherford.
Clevelan Santeliz tossed up zeroes in the final two frames as he relieved Shirek who lasted seven while scattering eight hits.
The BayBears continue their six-game series with the Barons on Monday night at 7:05 with Jarrod Parker (4-3, 3.04) on the hill. The BayBears return to Mobile for Independence Day, Saturday, July 4, as they’ll host the Chattanooga Lookouts at 7:05 p.m. For Hank Aaron Stadium tickets, call (251) 479-BEAR or log on to www.mobilebaybears.com.
