MnSoxFan Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 DOUG SEGREST News staff writer The aspiring boys of summer discovered an uncommon winter chill at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Tuesday night. Forty-one degrees, to be exact. Chances are only Birmingham Barons starting pitcher Heath Phillips met the bitter chill head on with a wide grin. "I pitched my whole high school career in Evansville, Indiana," Phillips said. "Most of the times I pitched, it was just like this - frigid." Phillips turned in a dominant pitching performance, tossing five scoreless innings as the Barons toasted the Montgomery Biscuits 5-1. "What was there to say? Heath Phillips is going to be a major league pitcher," Barons manager Razor Shines said. "Tonight showed why, the way he kept batters off balance. And his cutter was nice." The cutter, a pitch Phillips just picked up in spring training, was particularly effective as the left-hander used it to handcuff right-handed batters. "When it's cold like this, the batters don't want you coming with something inside," Phillips said. The new addition, mixed with a fastball and change up, kept the Biscuits' offense out of rhythm. "He was a soft-tossing left-hander. We never caught up to it," Montgomery manager Charlie Montoya said. Birmingham improved to 3-2 with the win and a perfect 2-0 in the renewal of their I-65 rivalry. The two cities share the Southern League record with five pennants apiece, yet haven't played each other in 29 years. The Montgomery franchise moved to Birmingham after the 1980 season, reincarnating at Rickwood Field as the Barons, and was in exile until a week ago. Tuesday's game was played before a scarce crowd that could be counted by hand at The Met. The Barons reported 1,639 tickets were sold for the game. Phillips pitched out of a couple of jams. In the first inning, he gave up a leadoff single to Fernando Cortez, but retired the side after Birmingham catcher Chris Stewart gunned Cortez down on a steal attempt. An inning later, Phillips stranded runners on second and third with one of his seven strikeouts on the night. "That was a big inning," he admitted. "That's a confidence builder to get out of that jam." Phillips left the game with the shutout intact. Amado German's two-out double in the ninth, however, voided the blank job. Still, it wasn't a bad second chance for Phillips. In a cameo appearance as a Baron last year, he made a rocky June 15 start at The Met. Phillips' line from his lone Double-A appearance: 14 hits allowed in six innings against Chattanooga. "The last time out there I got hit around a little bit," Phillips said. "I just left the ball up. Tonight, I got it down. I'm not an overpowering pitcher." Neither was Montgomery starter Jamie Shields. The Barons knocked him around for the early lead. Back-to-back RBI hits by Mike Morse and Micah Franklin in the third staked Birmingham to a 2-0 lead. Rob Sasser would expand it to 3-0 with a double a few pitches later en route to an 11-hit night for the home team. "You can see we're starting to swing the bats much better," Shines said. Hitting coach "Manny Trillo is spending a lot of time with these hitters and it's paying off." The series concludes with a 12:30 p.m. matinee today. Birmingham's Arnie Munoz (1-0, 0.00) faces Montgomery's Scott Autrey (0-0, 5.79) in the finale. Don't look for a well-rested Montgomery team. The Biscuits are bussing back and forth to the Capital City for each game. As for the afternoon start, it clears the way for the Alabama-UAB game at The Met tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 And his cutter was nice." The cutter, a pitch Phillips just picked up in spring training, was particularly effective as the left-hander used it to handcuff right-handed batters. Good to see the pitching prospects are learnin the cutter as well. It's worked so well for Loaiza last year, and now Shoe and Cotts are using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDF Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 it is good to see the growth of the pitching prospect in the minors. they continue to improve the future looks good. how serious of a prospect is heath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwsox Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 The Biscuits are bussing back and forth to the Capital City for each game. Busing means taking a bus. Bussing means kissing. Not that there's anything wrong with it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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