By Chris Megginson, assistant sports editor
BIRMINGHAM — The Birmingham Barons won three of five games this week in its home stand against the Mississippi Braves at Regions Field, but it was not enough to climb out of the bottom of the Southern League North Division Standings.
A pair of walk-off wins helped Birmingham (18-26) capture the series with Trey Michalczewski hitting a pinch-hit, three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to win Game 1 of the series, 6-4, on May 16, and a game-winning sacrifice fly by Mitch Roman to lift the Barons to a 2-1 Game 4 victory on May 19. A two-run, 426-foot home run on Friday night by Yermin Mercedes helped power Birmingham to a 4-2 win. Mississippi won Game 3 of the series, 4-1, on Saturday and took the final game of the series Monday night, 6-1.
Gavin Sheets led the Barons during the series with a .357 average (5-for-14) during the week with one RBI, while Mercedes (.350) and Luis Gonzalez (.300) had seven and six hits, respectively with three runs scored. Mercedes drove in three runs in the series. Luis Alexander Basabe was the next-best hitter at .333 (4-12) with one run scored and a RBI after a 3-for-4 performance to collect all three Barons hits Monday night.
Luis Martinez (2-1) recorded his first two wins of the season in relief, while Mauricio Cabrera (3-2) was the other Baron to pick up a win on the mound.
The Barons are on the road this week, May 22-26, with a five-game road series against the North Division foe Chattanooga Lookouts (22-21) at AT&T Field in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Next week, the Barons return home to host North Division leader Montgomery Biscuits (28-16) next week for a five-game series, May 28-June 1, including the Rickwood Classic at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 29, at Rickwood Field.
Promotions during the five-game home stand at Regions Field include T-Shirt Tuesday (first 1,000 adults) and Dollar Hot Dogs on May 28, Thirsty Thursday on May 30, LGBTQ Night and Friday Night Fireworks on May 31, and Space Jam Night on Saturday, June 1, with the first 1,000 fans receiving a “Tune Squad” jersey from the 1996 movie, which had a nod to Michael Jordan’s 1994 season with the Barons.