Birmingham Barons Hold Off West Tenn Diamond Jaxx 4-2 - AA, Southern League

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - Hoover, Ala. -- The Birmingham Barons grabbed a four-run lead early and withstood a late West Tenn rally to claim a 4-2 win Tuesday night at Regions Park. The victory gave the Barons their second five-game win streak of the year and pushed their lead in the Southern League's South Division to a season-high four games.

Birmingham (22-17) jumped in front in the first frame, getting a Javier Castillo RBI singled to claim a 1-0 lead against D-Jaxx starter Justin Thomas (1-4). Noah Hall added a two-run double in the third, and Cole Armstrong followed with a run-scoring singled to give the home squad a 4-0 advantage. It was all the offense that Barons starter Ryan O'Malley would need, and it was a good thing, since Birmingham managed just one hit after the third inning.

Making his first start of the season in just his sixth day with the team, O'Malley (1-0) scattered seven hits over 5.2 scoreless innings, fanning five batters and
ADVERTISEMENT walking just one. His defense was solid behind him, turning four double plays in the contest, which pushed the squad's yearlong total to a league-best 49 twin-killings.

West Tenn's (23-16) only notable scoring threat of the night came in the seventh, when Prentice Redman rapped a two-out, two-run double off reliever Derek Rodriguez to bring the Diamond Jaxx within 4-2. Joe Winkelsas came on to get an inning-ending strikeout, and after he recorded a scoreless eighth, he gave way to closer Jon Link, who fanned two in the ninth to get his league-best tenth save of the year.

Barons third baseman Javier Castillo used a 1-for-3 night to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, which is tied for the longest active run in the Southern League. He was one of six Barons to record a hit, and Miguel Negron tallied his seventh multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 performance.

Birmingham will look for its second series sweep of the year when it faces West Tenn in an 11:05 matinee Wednesday morning. Righthander Carlos Torres (4-1) will toe the slab for the Barons, and lefthander Ryan Ketchner (2-0) will take the mound for the D-Jaxx.

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