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MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Victor Mercedes hit for the cycle in Birmingham's 7-5 win over the Huntsville Stars Tuesday night, saving the biggest blow for last: a two-run, walk-off homer in the 11th that propelled the Barons to their sixth win in their last nine contests.

Mercedes' 5-for-6 night was a historic one on several counts. He recorded just the fifth cycle in team history and tallied the second of his career. He previously accomplished the feat on June 10 of last season, which was the team's first cycle since Reggie Jackson's in 1967.

The walk-off homer was the team's first since Mercedes clubbed a game-ending grand slam to beat Mobile on August 17 of last season. The five hits were the most for a Barons player in a single game since Cory Aldridge posted a five-hit affair in June 2006.

Mercedes' dramatics were only rendered necessary because of a rare late-inning collapse by the Birmingham (68-58, 28-28) relief corps. With the Barons holding a 3-1 lead in the eighth, Barons reliever Brian Omogrosso coaxed a pair of quick groundouts. But a single and a walk put a pair of men on base and led to Jon Link's entrance from the Birmingham bullpen.

The closer, who was gunning for his Minor League Baseball-best 34th save of the year, induced a swinging third strike on Chris Errecart that would have ended the inning. But catcher Erick San Pedro couldn't hang on to the pitch and Errecart reached first safely. Michael Bell then followed with a three-run double off the top of the left field wall that gave Huntsville (68-59, 27-30) its first lead of the night at 4-3.

Down the single run in the ninth, the Barons rallied to tie. With runners at second and third and one out, San Pedro lofted a soft liner to left-center that popped out of the glove of sprinting center fielder Lorenzo Cain. Lee Cruz scored easily to knot the game at 4-4, but Robbie Hudson was gunned down at the plate while trying to plate the game-winning run.

The Stars used a hit batsman, a walk, and a wild pitch to take a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th off Barons reliever Ryan Rote, but Birmingham again battled back. Mercedes cranked a leadoff triple into the right field corner and tied the game when he touched home on a Cruz sacrifice fly.

The game-winning rally came an inning later and began when San Pedro squeezed out a leadoff walk against Huntsville reliever Robert Hinton (3-4). After a Miguel Negron strikeout, Mercedes crushed a line drive over the fence in the right field corner for the game-ending blast. The walk-off victory was the team's sixth of the season and its first since a June 20 win over Jacksonville.

Though the ending proved to be exciting, the home club could not take advantage of a stellar effort by starter Aaron Poreda. The left-hander scattered six hits and a pair of walks over six innings, striking out six and allowing just an unearned run to score in his final frame of work.

He left with a 3-1 lead thanks to a Ricardo Nanita RBI single in the third and a Hudson two-run double in the fourth off Huntsville starter Donovan Hand. Hand was touched for nine hits over his five innings of work but was let off the hook thanks to his team's late-game surge.

Mercedes built up to his big night, grounding out in his first at bat in the opening inning. He posted singles in the third and fifth innings and added a double in the eighth. His tenth-inning triple was his third three-bagger of the year, and the home run was his 11th, which is a new personal single-season high.

Cruz collected three hits to extend his hitting streak to six games, tying his season long. Nanita and Javier Castillo claimed two hits apiece for the Barons.

Bell was the only Star to record multiple hits, going 2-5 on the evening.

Birmingham smacked 16 total hits in the game, the squad's highest total since rapping out a season-high 18 against Jacksonville on May 27.

Fernando Hernandez (6-4) was the beneficiary of the Birmingham rally, earning the win as the team's fifth pitcher of the night after tossing a scoreless 11th inning.

After splitting the first two games of this five-game series, the Barons and Stars will square off in game three Wednesday night. Right-hander Justin Cassel (9-4), the Southern League's ERA leader with a 3.01 mark, is scheduled to start for Birmingham, and he is slated to be opposed by lefty Brae Wright (6-9). First pitch is at 7:05 pm.

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