Monday, June 27, 2005

L 16-4

Zebulon, NC --- Nine different Birmingham hitters drove in runs as the Barons routed the Carolina Mudcats 16-4 at Five County Stadium on Monday night.

Both teams entered the night in first place in their respective divisions, but the Barons (5-2) from the South scored 13 runs in the first four innings, highlighted by a seven-run fourth to shed the Mudcats (4-3). 

Darren Blakely homered and drove in four, while Jonathan Acevas hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning.  Casey Rogowski went 3-3 with three RBI for the Barons.

Josh Johnson (L, 7-4) allowed 10 earned runs over 3 1/3 innings, as his seventh-best ERA in the Southern League rose from 2.99 to 4.00. 

Carolina tied the game at 1 in the first inning on the first of two Drew Niles singles.  Birmingham scored 15 unanswered runs before the Mudcats pushed across three runs in the last of the ninth.  Singles by Robert Andino and Jason Hill, along with a passed ball were responsible for the runs.

Charlie Haeger earned his second Double-A win in his second start, knuckling the Mudcats on nine hits over seven innings.

The Barons lead the series 2-1 and will close out Carolina's homestand on Tuesday night at 7:15 PM ET with Jason Vargas (1-0, 3.86) starting for the Mudcats against Heath Phillips (4-1, 2.38).

BIRMINGHAM            1 2 3   7 0 0   2 1 0   ---   16   21   1   10

CAROLINA                1 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 3   ---     4   14   1   10

WP - Haeger (2-0)

LP - Johnson (7-4)

S - None.

HR - Blakely (12), Aceves (5)

Time:  3:16

Att:  2,456