MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -MOBILE, Ala. – With only four base hits on Friday night at Hank Aaron Stadium, the BayBears didn’t muster up much offense in a 3-1 loss to the Birmingham Barons who sent the BayBears back to third place in the South Division, 1 ½ games out of first.

John Ely (8-1) was spectacular for Birmingham (61-31, 13-10) on the hill as he retired the first 13 batters he faced before Chris Rahl reached on an error with one out in the fifth. After another defensive miscue allowed Matt Tupman to reach. Mark Hallberg hit into a fielder’s choice to bring Rahl home for the only BayBear tally.

Matt Torra (6-8) was also solid on the mound for the BayBears (49-43, 12-10) as he kept the Barons off the scoreboard until the fourth when C.J. Retherford and Dayan Viciedo reached on successive one-out singles. Stefan Gartrell, who has tortured the BayBears this season, whipped a three-run homer to give the Barons a 3-0 lead. Gartrell’s hit six dingers against the BayBears this year.

Torra was untouched from there as he lasted seven innings while matching a career-high with nine strikeouts. Ely worked six frames for the Barons and didn’t give up a base hit until the sixth when Pedro Ciriaco bounced an infield single up the middle.

Clevelan Santeliz took Ely’s place in the seventh and worked around a one-out knock by Tupman. In the eighth, the BayBears put runners on the corners with one away to force Fernando Hernandez (S, 16) into the contest. Hernandez retired Bryan Byrne and Ricardo Sosa to kill the threat before putting up another zero in the ninth.

After a strong performance from the BayBears’ bullpen on Thursday, Scott Maine tossed two scoreless innings in relief of Torra while fanning three.

The Mobile BayBears have sent nearly 100 players to the major leagues. They battle the Barons in game four of their series on Saturday night at 7:05 with Jarrod Parker (4-4, 2.98) getting the start.

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