The Birmingham Barons are off until Friday due to the All-Star break. When the season resumes, they're supposed to be playing with a normal baseball.
According to the Baseball America story back at the start of May, the Southern League's experiment with enchanced-grip, pre-tacked baseballs was supposed to run through July 13, after which it will return to standard, mud-rubbed major-league balls. Assuming that holds, you could consider the Barons' 7-1 to the Tennessee Smokies on Sunday to be the end of an era.
I use the qualifier "supposed to" because Major League Baseball isn't known for consistency with its eponymous item, but it's worth keeping tabs on this particular split to see if guys like José Rodríguez and Luis Mieses experience big second-half swings.
Jacksonville 13, Charlotte 2
- Lenyn Sosa went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
Tennessee 7, Birmingham 1
- Terrell Tatum went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- José Rodríguez went 2-for-4 with a stoeln base.
- Bryan Ramos and Luis Mieses both were 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Yoelquei Céspedes went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Adam Hackenberg, 1-for-4 with a solo shot and a strikeout.
Down East 2, Kannapolis 1
- Brooks Baldwin went 1-for-4.
- Tanner McDougal: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
