Wednesday, August 17

L 9-4

Birmingham, AL --- A five-run sixth inning keyed the Birmingham Barons to a 9-4 victory over the Carolina Mudcats, and completed a four-game sweep of the series pitting the division leaders against one another.

The Barons became the first Southern League team to sweep the Mudcats four games, and shaved Carolina's lead in the Northern Division to two games with 19 remaining in the second half.

Chris Young tripled home two runs against reliever Ross Wolf to highlight the five-run frame.  Ray Aguilar (L, 4-2), who lost for the second time during the road trip, allowed three hits to four batters he faced in the inning before being relieved.  Aguilar permitted 11 hits and eight earned runs over 5 1/3 innings.

The Mudcats (30-21) assumed a 3-0 lead on homers by Jeremy Hermida in the first inning, then a solo shot by Jason Hill in the third against winning pitcher Heath Phillips (W, 9-4).

Carolina had 14 hits in the game, including Hill, who went 4-3 and JC Muniz who collected three singles.

The Mudcats enjoy their last off-day of the regular season on Thursday before opening a brief three-game homestand against the Chattanooga Lookouts at Five County on Friday night.  Josh Johnson (10-4) starts the opener for Carolina at 7:15 PM ET.

CAROLINA            2 0 1   0 1 0   0 0 0   ---   4   14   1   9

BIRMINGHAM       0 0 1   1 2 5   0 0 x   ---   9   13   0   5

WP - Phillips (9-4)

LP - Aguilar (4-2)

S -None.

HR - Hermida (18), Hill (17), Fields (16)

Time:  2:36

Att:  1,959