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Mobile BayBears manager Andy Green and Birmingham Barons manager Julio Vinas shake hands before a Southern League game on Aug. 8, 2013, at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/mkittrell@al.com)

The Mobile BayBears will play the Birmingham Barons for the 50th Southern League championship. The Barons defeated the Tennessee Smokies 7-4 in Game 5 of the best-of-five North Division playoff series on Monday night to advance.

The Southern League championship series will start at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Hank Aaron Stadium. The second game will be played at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at The Hank. The series will be completed at Regions Field in Birmingham, with Game 3 on Friday and, if needed, Game 4 on Saturday and Game 5 on Sunday.

The BayBears are trying to join the Montgomery Rebels teams of 1975 through 1977 as the only winners of three consecutive Southern League titles.

The North Division series was tied at two games apiece after the Barons won the first two games in Birmingham and the Smokies came back with two wins in Tennessee.

In the deciding game, Birmingham scored four runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-2 lead. The Smokies made four errors in the Barons' big inning, including two on one play that cleared loaded bases.

After Javier Baez hit a two-run homer for Tennessee in the bottom of the fifth, Birmingham relievers Ryan Kussmaul and Cody Winiarski allowed one baserunner over the final four innings to sew up the victory.

Mobile won the South Division series in four games over the Mississippi Braves.

Birmingham won the North Division first-half championship. Mobile won both halves in the South Division and finished with the league's best regular-season record at 79-60. Birmingham went 77-63.

Mobile played one home and one away series against Birmingham during the regular season. The BayBears went 5-5 against Birmingham, with each team winning four games on its home field. Mobile outscored the Barons 56-38 in those games.

Because Birmingham is an affiliate of the American League's Chicago White Sox, a designated hitter will be used in the championship series. Mobile, an affiliate of the National League's Arizona Diamondbacks, had a 22-18 record in games with a DH this season.

The BayBears will open the championship series with Archie Bradley, the Southern League's Most Outstanding Pitcher of 2013, on the mound.