Columbus Concludes First Half With 5-1 Win Over Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM, AL., — The Columbus Clingstones (26-40) blasted their way to an early 4-0 lead with a pair of 2-run home runs in the second inning and rode seven strong innings from Brett Sears to a 5-1 victory over the Birmingham Barons (38-31) Sunday afternoon at Regions Field. Decisive Plays:
BIRMINGHAM, AL., — The Columbus Clingstones (26-40) blasted their way to an early 4-0 lead with a pair of 2-run home runs in the second inning and rode seven strong innings from Brett Sears to a 5-1 victory over the Birmingham Barons (38-31) Sunday afternoon at Regions Field.
Decisive Plays: After Sears stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the first, Columbus erupted for a four-run second inning that featured a two-run home run from Adam Zebrowski (4) and another from Cade Bunnell (3). Sears retired 17 batters in a row from the first inning through the seventh, where Birmingham scored its first and only run on an RBI single from Caden Connor. Jose Cuas and Austin Smith each tossed scoreless innings in relief of Sears to lock up the Clingstones victory.
Key Contributors: Zebrowski (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) and Bunnell (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) came through on offense early in the game to set up Sears (Win, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO) for his second Double-A victory. For Birmingham, Connor had the lone RBI while Jacob Gonzalez (2-for-4, 2B, R) had the only extra-base hit.
Noteworthy: Columbus snapped its club record 10-game losing streak, falling one game shy of the longest losing streak in the Southern League this season, which belongs to Pensacola. Zebrowski finished the season batting .333 (5-for-15) with 3 home runs and 6 RBI. Sears turned in the 18th quality start of the season for Columbus.
Next Home Game (Tuesday, June 24): Columbus vs. Biloxi, 7:05 pm ET at Synovus Park. Radio Broadcast: 6:50 pm ET on Sports Visions 92.1 FM.