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Biloxi Beats The Wahoos
April 26, 2015
Pensacola Blue Wahoos outfielder Jesse Winker hit a deep fly ball to the 400-foot sign in centerfield with his final swing of the game and a runner on second base.
He thought it was a goner. So did manager Pat Kelly and the Blue Wahoos fans.
However, Biloxi Shuckers centerfielder Kyle Wren chased Winker’s shot down to preserve a 4-3 victory over Pensacola. The Wahoos recorded its 108th sellout in its fourth season at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
“I definitely thought it was gone for sure,” said Winker, the Cincinnati Reds No. 3 prospect who has hit two dingers in his past four-game hitting streak. “I thought I got it. PK (Pat Kelly) wants to win and so do we.”
Kelly, who coached Winker last year in Bakersfield, also thought Winker had a walk-off two-run home run.
“I thought he got it, seeing him hit the past couple years,” Kelly said of Winker. “He came pretty close. He just couldn’t get it over Wren’s head.”
The Blue Wahoos dropped to 4-10 on the season and 1-4 against Biloxi. They are 5.5 games back of the 10-5 and first-place Shuckers.
Pensacola fans came to life in the bottom of the second inning when, not only did the Blue Angels Fat Albert make an unscheduled fly over, the Blue Wahoos loaded the bases with no outs. Stephenson hit a deep fly ball to right field to score Kyle Waldrop to tie the game at 2. Shuckers lefty Brent Suter then walked Wahoos Ryan Wright to put Pensacola ahead, 3-2. Suter struggled in the inning walking four batters, hitting another and allowing a Waldrop single.
However, Shuckers shortstop Orlando Arcia, the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect according to Baseball America, smashed a solo home run over the left field wall in the fifth inning for the game-winning run, 4-3. He leads the Southern League in hitting at .458 (22-48) and has reached base in all 15 Shuckers’ games this season.
Wahoos right fielder Winker prevented Biloxi from adding another run in that inning by gunning down Taylor Green at second base, when he tried to stretch his single to a double.
“I had a bad rap about my defense when I was drafted,” said the 21-year-old Winker, who was the 49th pick overall in the 2012 draft. “But I’ve worked a lot and felt I’ve always been a good defender. I take a lot of pride in my defense.”
The Reds No. 1 prospect, Stephenson, threw 5.2 innings, allowing six hits four runs, two of which were earned, three walks and striking out five. In three starts and 16.2 innings, he has 21 strike outs.
The doubleheader Sunday with the Milwaukee Brewers Double-A affiliate Biloxi Shuckers is scheduled at 2:05 p.m. Both games will be seven innings. RHP Tim Adleman (0-2, 2.70) takes the mound for the Wahoos in the first game and is scheduled to be opposed by the Shuckers RHP Brooks Hall (2-0, 1.13). In the second game, RHP Layne Somsen (0-0, 1.13) takes the mound for the Wahoos and is scheduled to be opposed by the Shuckers RHP Jacob Barnes (0-2, 3.72).
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