MONTGOMERY, AL (July 24, 2026) – The Montgomery Biscuits erased a two-run deficit and used Theo Gillen’s walk-off homer to down the Birmingham Barons, 9-8, on Friday night at DABOS Park.
Montgomery (47-46) broke through with a five-run second inning when Kamren James drew a bases-loaded walk to force home Theo Gillen for the game's first run. Then, Austin Overn crushed a two-out grand slam to right-center field, giving the Biscuits an early 5-0 advantage.
Birmingham (35-59) answered immediately in the third. Anthony DePino blasted a grand slam to left field to cut the deficit to 5-4. The Barons then took the lead in the fourth when Boston Smith launched a two-run homer to right, making it 6-5.
The Barons added another run in the fifth on Colby Shelton's sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 7-5.
The Biscuits rallied in the seventh inning. Brayden Taylor reached base before Jadher Areinamo singled, setting the stage for Theo Gillen, who ripped a two-run triple to right field to tie the game at 7-7. Émilien Pitre followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Gillen to put Montgomery back in front, 8-7.
Birmingham evened the score in the eighth when Colby Shelton crossed the plate after Boston Smith reached on a fielding error, tying the game at 8-8.
With the game deadlocked in the bottom of the ninth, Gillen led off the inning by launching a solo home run to right field, his fourth homer of the season, lifting Montgomery to the 9-8 walk-off victory.
The Biscuits collected nine hits in the win. Gillen finished 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk-off home run, three RBI, and three runs scored. Overn drove in four runs with his grand slam, while Areinamo recorded two hits. Pitre doubled and added an RBI, and Will Simpson, Kenny Piper, and Ryan Spikes each contributed a hit.
T.J. Nichols allowed six runs over 3.2 innings in the start. Chris Clark surrendered one run in 1.1 innings before Jacob Kmatz tossed two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Derrick Edington worked the eighth, allowing an unearned run, and Tommy McCollum (3-7) earned the win with a scoreless ninth, striking out two.
Birmingham starter Mathias LaCombe allowed five runs in 1.2 innings before Nick Altermatt and Carson Jacobs combined for 4.1 scoreless innings. Jarold Rosado surrendered three runs in the seventh to blow the lead, and Phil Fox (2-4) took the loss after allowing Gillen's walk-off homer in the ninth.
Tickets are on sale for the 2026 season of Montgomery Biscuits baseball. Fans can purchase tickets for the current homestand against the Birmingham Barons (White Sox) from July 21-26 by visiting Montgomery Biscuits Single Game Tickets.