Boston Smith and Brenden Dixon home runs led the Birmingham Barons to a 7-3 win over the Rocket City Trash Pandas before 2,076 at Regions Field on Sunday. The Barons take the series with two wins in the three-game series against Rocket City.
Starting pitcher Jake Palisch pitched four innings, giving up six hits, two earned runs, and a walk with a strikeout. The lefty threw 70 pitches and kept the Trash Pandas off the scoreboard for the first three innings. Nick Altermatt (1-1, 3.03) gets the win in relief, pitching the fifth and sixth innings, giving up three hits, one earned run, and a walk with a strikeout. Phil Fox, Pierce George, and Jackson Kelley all pitched a scoreless inning to close out the final three frames of the game.
Birmingham (8-13, 34-56) scored first in the game. Jacob Burke led off by being hit by a pitch. Burke stole second base, his 15th of the season. Caleb Bonemer followed with an RBI single to center, scoring Burke, and the Barons led 1-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, Alec Briley walked along with Caleb Bonemer. With two on, Smith hit a towering home run to right field for a three-run home run, and the Barons led 4-0.
In the top of the fourth inning, Rocket City (10-11, 45-44) scored two runs on RBI groundouts by Cole Fontenelle and Jake Thompson. The Barons led 4-2.
In the top of the fifth inning, Rocket City closed the gap again on a Fontenelle ground out, and the Barons' lead was 4-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, Brenden Dixon led off the inning with a solo home run to left field, and the Barons led 5-3.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Smith singled, and Dylan Campbell singled. Samuel Zavala had a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to third and second base with one out. Jorge Corona singled, scoring Smith, and the Barons led 6-3. T.J. McCants hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Campbell, and the Barons led 7-3.
For Birmingham, Smith and Dixon had two hits apiece in the home win.
Up next, the Barons will travel to face the Montgomery Biscuits on Tuesday. First pitch is at 6:35 pm.