Barons Lose 7-5 to the Shuckers on Sunday

The Birmingham Barons lost 7-5 to the Biloxi Shuckers before 2,203 at Keesler Federal Park on Sunday. The Shuckers swept the Barons in the five-game series. One game was rescheduled due to rain for a later date in a series in Birmingham.

The Barons (16-28) have lost 14 out of their last 17 games and pitching has been an area of concern. Barons pitching have an ERA of 5.61 which is 28th out of 30 teams in all Double-A.

Starting pitcher Jake Palisch (1-3, 4.43) pitched five innings, giving up six hits, five earned runs and four walks with a strikeout. Jared Kelley pitched 0.2 innings, giving up one hit, one earned run, and one walk. Jairo Iriarte pitched 1.1 innings and not giving up any runs with two strikeouts. Jonathan Clark pitched one inning, giving up one hit, one earned run, and two walks with a strikeout.

The Barons scored first in the game in the top of the fourth inning, Alec Makarewicz tripled to center field. Anthony DePino followed with a double to left field, scoring Makarewicz. The Barons took an early 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jheremy Vargas doubled, scoring Eric Brown Jr. and Mike Boeve. The Shuckers (22-21) took a 2-1 lead. In the top of the fifth inning, Calvin Harris hit a home run to right field for his fourth home run on the season. The game was tied at 2-2.

In the top of the sixth inning, the Barons took the lead. DePino doubled, Jacob Burke walked, and Harris walked to load the bases with two outs. Adam Fogel walked, scoring DePino and the Barons led 3-2. Jordan Sprinkle singled on a infield ground ball, scoring Burke. The Barons led 4-2, but that lead was wiped out in the bottom of the inning. The Shuckers scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, to take the 6-4 lead.

In the top of the eighth inning, Burke led off with a double. Jeral Perez walked. Fogel hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Burke. The Barons trailed only 6-5, but that was a close they would get. The Shuckers scored one more run in the bottom of the eighth inning to make it 7-5.

For the Barons, DePino had two hits, a run scored, and an RBI. Sprinkle had two hits, an RBI, and his 17th stolen base of the season.

Up next, Birmingham will host Pensacola in a six-game series starting Tuesday at Regions Field. LHP Lucas Gordon (2-3, 5.15) will face RHP Jacob Miller (1-2, 3.86). Listen to MILB.tv or WJOX-FM (100.5) for game coverage.