SL CHAMPIONSHIP: Barons in perfect form in win over Biscuits in Game 1
Biscuits first baseman Tre Morgan gets his lead fro third base in the first game of the SL Championship series at Riverwalk Stadium on Sunday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Looking nothing like their parent club (Chicago White Sox), the Birmingham Barons displayed superior pitching, fielding and hitting on Sunday, taking the first game of the Southern League Championship Series with a 7-2 win over the Montgomery Biscuits in front of a paltry crowd of 1,707 fans at Riverwalk Stadium.
The best-of-three series now moves to Birmingham’s Regions Field where the Barons can clinch a Southern League-best seventh league championship with a win over the Biscuits. The two will play on Tuesday at 7 p.m., with a third game, if necessary, on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
On a day when the White Sox lost to the Padres and tied the Major League record for losses held by the 1962 Mets (120), the Double-A version of the White Sox was besting the Biscuits in every category to erase a seven-game winning streak by the Biscuits over the Barons.
The Barons, who have promoted 11 players to either the White Sox or Triple-A Charlotte over the last 60 days, looked little like the team swept in a six-game series by the Biscuits on July 30-Aug. 4 by a combined score of 28-4.
Barons starter Noah Schultz, the number one prospect in the White Sox minor league organization, allowed just one hit in the first three innings before finally running into a little trouble with back-to-back doubles by Dominic Keegan and Tre’ Morgan that helped provide the Biscuits’ only runs.
The Barons, displaying an emotional and energized dugout, jumped on Biscuits’ starter Sean Hunley with a first-inning double by Mario Camilletti and a Wilfred Veras’ line drive to center field that was misplayed by Chandler Simpson and allowed Camilletti to score.
Hunley pitched out of a third-inning jam but left in the fourth after Nick Podkul and Jacob Gonzalez led off with singles, Terrell Tatum reached base when Hunley’s throw pulled Morgan off first base on Tatum’s bunt and Shawn Goosenberg followed with a single as part of a three-run fourth.
Biscuits’ reliever Antonio Menendez gave up a one-out single to Veras, followed by a double by DJ Gladney in the seventh inning. Montgomery manager Kevin Boles elected to stick with Menendez but called for a two-out intentional walk to Podkul. Both moves backfired as Gonzalez followed with a double to left center field that cleared the bases for a 7-2 lead.
Sunday’s game featured the top team in hitting and fielding (Montgomery) against the top pitching club in the Southern League (Birmingham).
Garrett Schoenle, who relieved Schultz in the fourth inning, was credited with the victory. Schoenle, Zach Franklin, Jake Palisch and Eric Adler pitched the final 5.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits -- a bloop single by Carson Williams in the seventh and an infield single by Simpson in the ninth.
Three of the league’s top hitters, SL batting average champ Simpson, third-place Tanner Murray and third-place home run hitter Williams, went a combined 2 for 11 on Sunday.
SOUTHERN LEAGUE
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Sunday
Birmingham 7, Montgomery 2, Riverwalk Stadium
Tuesday
Montgomery at Birmingham, Regions Field, 7 p.m.
Wednesday (if necessary)
Montgomery at Birmingham, Regions Field, 7 p.m.