Alec Briley sent center fielder Kane Kepley back to the warning track, then to the wall, with a birthday swing that carried Birmingham into the record book and past Knoxville.
Briley’s 30th home run broke a tie in the eighth inning Saturday night at Regions Field, making him the first Baron in 29 years to reach the mark. On his 26th birthday, the first baseman supplied the defining blow in Birmingham’s 5-2 victory over the Smokies.
The solo homer opened a three-run eighth against Frankie Scalzo Jr., but it landed only after Mathias LaCombe had escaped Knoxville’s best chance to take control.
Ariel Armas walked to begin the top of the inning, and Carter Trice followed with a sharp double to center. That put runners at second and third with nobody out in a 2-2 game. LaCombe responded by striking out Alex Madera, getting Angel Cepeda to pop out to second and retiring Edgar Alvarez on a fly ball to left.
The threat disappeared without a run. Briley made the escape hurt one batter later.
His drive kept carrying toward straightaway center as Kepley retreated to the track and reached the wall. The ball cleared it for Briley’s only hit in four at-bats, a milestone homer that gave the Barons a 3-2 lead.
Birmingham kept pressing. Samuel Zavala walked, Ryan Burrowes lined a single to right and Jacob Burke drove a ball toward center. Kepley charged and made a diving attempt, but the ball dropped in front of him as Zavala scored standing up. Burke’s second run-scoring single of the night gave him three RBIs.
After a wild pitch and a hit batter loaded the bases, Jordan Sprinkle’s force play brought Burrowes home with the final run.
That cushion belonged in part to LaCombe, who earned his first win with two scoreless innings, three strikeouts and one walk. Garrett Wright protected it with a hitless ninth, striking out Josiah Hartshorn to complete his first save.
Before the late drama, Burke had provided the Barons’ first breakthrough in the fourth. Zavala drew a two-out walk, and Burrowes poked a soft liner toward the left-field line that fell beyond Trice’s reach. Zavala stopped at third while Burrowes pulled into second with a stand-up double.
Knoxville replaced Dawson Netz with Luis Martinez-Gomez, but Burke greeted the reliever by lining a single into center. Zavala and Burrowes both scored for a 2-0 Birmingham lead.
Burrowes finished 2-for-4 with two runs and his second double. Burke went 2-for-4, delivering half of Birmingham’s six hits and driving in three of its five runs.
Dylan Cumming kept that early lead intact through five scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and struck out six, working around four walks and a Birmingham error.
The Smokies erased the advantage against Phil Fox in the sixth. Armas was hit by a pitch before Trice drove a ball high off the center-field wall, scoring Armas with an RBI triple. Madera walked, and Cepeda’s sacrifice fly brought Trice home with the tying run. Fox limited the inning to those two runs by getting Madera at the plate on a fielder’s choice, but he was charged with his third blown save.
Trice accounted for two of Knoxville’s three hits, adding the eighth-inning double that placed Birmingham’s bullpen under its greatest pressure. LaCombe held firm, and Briley immediately turned the escape into a lead.
Dylan Campbell contributed a different kind of pressure throughout the night, reaching base four times on a single and three walks and stealing three bases.
The Barons needed patience, pitching and Burke’s production to reach the eighth with the game even. Their final separation came from Briley, whose birthday drive gave Birmingham a victory and placed his name beside a home run total no Baron had reached in nearly three decades.