The Chattanooga Lookouts' pitching settled in after a tough first inning Friday night.
But their bats never got going enough to overcome that bad start, and the Birmingham Barons won 3-1 in front of 2,631 at AT&T Field.
Chattanooga starter Anthony Marzi (0-6) struck out 11 batters while allowing seven hits and two walks, and he gave up all three runs in the first.
Birmingham's Joel Booker led off with a ground-rule double to right field, and Luis Alexander Basabe's single pushed him to third base. With one out, Zack Collins hit his 11th home run of the season, sending the ball over the fence in right-center.
Outhit 8-5 for the night, Chattanooga got its run in the sixth and had the opportunity to do even more damage in the inning. Andy Wilkins drew a leadoff walk as the first batter to face Birmingham reliever Jake Johansen, Zander Wiel and Mitchell Kranson followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases, and Jaylin Davis add another single to bring Wilkins home.
That was followed by a lineout, strikeout and flyout, though, and Chattanooga went down at the plate 1-2-3 in the final three innings.
The Lookouts are 4-11 in the Southern League season's second half and 40-44 this year. They will host the finale of their four-game series against the Barons tonight at 7:15 and try to earn a split.
Birmingham's scheduled starting pitcher is Matt Tomshaw (4-4, 5.32), with Lewis Thorpe (4-4, 4.04) set for Chattanooga.