Whether you consider it a best-of-three or a best-of-nine, the Birmingham Barons won both of their series against the Tennessee Smokies on Friday, punching their ticket to the Southern League Championship Series with a 6-3 victory in Game 3 (or Game 9) at Regions Field.
The Barons' 3-0 lead was erased in the middle innings, but because the baseball gods decided to smile on my subject matter, Rikuu Nishida scored the go-ahead run by living his life 90 feet at a time. He led off with an infield single, reached third after a pair of one-out walks, and scored when Jacob Gonzalez's chopper developed slowly enough for Nishida's speed to rule out the force at home. Compounding problems for the Smokies, Tennessee pitcher Blake Whitney's second-thought flip to first was weak and late, leading to two more Birmingham runs that iced it.
And thanks to Jacob Gonzalez's Instagram account -- a news source of note over the last week -- you can see Nishida celebrating in the clubhouse after the game.
Birmingham has home field advantage for the best-of-three against Montgomery, and while the series opens on the road, Noah Schultz should be the one starting it.
Syracuse 12, Charlotte 5
- Corey Julks went 2-for-4 with a double, walk and strikeout.
- Tim Elko was 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Colson Montgomery went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Edgar Quero caught seven innings, going 0-for-3.
- Oscar Colás was 1-for-4 with a K.
- Jordan Leasure: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
- Shane Murphy: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K
Birmingham 6, Tennessee 3
- Rikuu Nishida went 2-for-3 with a walk and a sac fly.
- DJ Gladney was back in the lineup, going 1-for-4 with a walk.
- Jacob Gonzalez singled twice, walked twice and struck out once.
- Terrell Tatum went 2-for-4 with a walk, but was caught stealing.
- Riley Gowens: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, 52 of 85 pitches for strikes.
- Peyton Pallette: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 20 of 33 pitches for strikes.
