Dixon Homers Again, Mobile Still Beats The Wahoos
June 4, 2016
Pensacola second baseman Brandon Dixon keeps sending pitches out of the ballpark and Friday his solo shot in the sixth inning into the left field berm at Hank Aaron Stadium tied the game, 3-3.
However, Mobile BayBears’ relief corps shutout Pensacola over the last 3.1 innings, which allowed right fielder Gabriel Guerrero to hit a one-out, bases-loaded, walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Mobile a 4-3 victory.
Pensacola stayed in first place, although its loss dropped them to 32-22 in the Southern League South Division. The BayBears improved to 24-30. The Blue Wahoos and Mobile are now tied, 2-2, in the five game series.
Dixon’s blast saved Nick Travieso, who simply struggled through four innings. Travieso, the Cincinnati Reds No. 7 prospect, walked a career-high seven batters. Of his 92 pitches, he threw 44 for strikes. A hit batter and error meant half of the 24 batters he faced reached base.
“It’s amazing he held them to three runs,” Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said after the game. “He never got into a rhythm but he battled.”
Remarkably, Travieso left the game down just one run, 3-2, to Mobile. The BayBears had trouble scoring leaving 11 base runners stranded through the first five innings, including leaving the bases loaded in the first and fourth innings. They got its leadoff hitter on base in eight of the 10 innings Friday.
Dixon went 2-4 with a homer, single and walk and is now 13-20 (.650) in his five-game hitting streak. He has six home runs and 15 RBIs during that span. His slugging percentage on the year is .583, and since May 1, Dixon leads all of minor league baseball with a .779 slugging percentage.
“That (homer) was nice,” Kelly said. “It got Travieso off the hook and gave us a chance.”
Dixon now has nine homers on the year, which is third in the Southern League. He has driven in 34 runs, good for fourth in the Southern League. He is batting .319, which ranks third in the league.
The utility player hit two homers in back-to-back games May 29 against the Birmingham Barons and May 31 against Mobile and now has homers in the past two games against the Mobile BayBears.
Pensacola left fielder Tony Renda, 2-5 with one run scored Friday night, put Pensacola on top, 1-0, when he led off the game with a line drive single to left field and crossed home plate when Pensacola catcher Kyle Skipworth hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field. Blue Wahoos center fielder Phillip Ervin, who walked, scored to make the game, 2-0, when shortstop Alex Blandino knocked a single through the left side of the infield.
However, Mobile came right back with two runs of its own when BayBears center fielder Evan Marzilli singled and scored to pull the team within, 2-1. Dixon likely saved two runs from coming in by making a diving stop of a hard hit grounder by catcher Michael Perez and making a heads up play by turning to get the lead runner, Guerrero, forced out at second base.
Mobile first baseman Kevin Cron then doubled in the bottom of the first inning to score shortstop Ildemaro Vargas to tie the game, 2-2.
But it Dixon’s misplay in the bottom of the 10th on a high pop up to shallow center field just behind second base that allowed Mobile shortstop Ildermaro Vargas to reach first base. Instead of going after the catch, he headed to second base to wait for a throw from Ervin from center fielder and the ball fell between them.
Mitchell hit the next batter and then Guerrero hit his walk-off single to left.
The BayBears had gone ahead, 3-2, in the third inning when Guerrero walked, stole second base and took third on a sacrifice fly. Cron then hit a deep fly ball that scored Guerrero, who has hit two solo home runs off Blue Wahoos’ pitching this series.
“The last two years, (Guerrero) has hit .200 in this league,” Kelly said. “He has hit .500 off of us. Obviously, we haven’t pitched him well.”
Dixon Smacks Fifth Homer In Four Games
June 3, 2016
Pensacola Blue Wahoos second baseman Brandon Dixon hit his fifth home run in four games Thursday at Hank Aaron Stadium and drove in his 13th and 14th runs during his hot-hitting streak.
Dixon got all of the pitch to launch a solo shot over the left field fence in the sixth inning as Pensacola won, 4-1, over the Mobile BayBears. The Blue Wahoos now lead the series, 2-1.
Playing left field to keep his hot bat in the lineup, Dixon also singled in the eighth inning to drive in center fielder Phillip Ervin with his second RBI of the game Thursday.
Dixon now has eight homers on the year, which is third in the Southern League. He has driven in 33 runs, good for fourth in the Southern League. And after a 2-3 game Thursday with a walk, the 24-year-old is hitting .312, which ranks seventh in the league.
Dixon, who has hit in seven of his last eight games, is now 11-16 (.688) in his last four games. He hit two homers in back-to-back games May 29 against the Birmingham Barons and May 31 against Mobile.
Pensacola starter Rookie Davis, who missed three starts, took the mound for the first time since May 11. He rejoined the best pitching staff in the Southern League with a 3.11 ERA.
Davis worked four innings, giving up one run on three hits and two walks, while striking out two. His only run was a solo blast by Mobile’s Gabriel Guerrero in the fourth inning, which was his second in three games against Pensacola.
Pensacola relievers Barrett Astin, Nick Routt and Alejandro Chacin combined for five innings pitched, two hits, one walk and four strikeouts. Chacin is tied for first in the Southern League with 10 saves in 11 chances this season. Astin got the victory and is 5-1 with a 2.75 ERA.
Pensacola’s improved to 32-21 in the Southern League South Division and remain in first. The BayBears dropped to 23-30.
The Blue Wahoos scored first in the second inning when third baseman Eric Jagielo launched his third homer of the season. He was 2-4 in the game.
After Guerrero tied it with one swing, Pensacola went back on top, 2-1, in the fifth inning when Blue Wahoos catch Joe Hudson doubled to center and scored on Mobile starter Yoan Lopez’s throwing error.
Also leading the Blue Wahoos, who had 11 hits total, was Ervin, who was 2-4 and scored a run. Meanwhile, Hudson also earned two hits, going 2-4 with a double and run scored.
Mobile Evens Series With The Wahoos
June 2, 2016
Pensacola Blue Wahoos starter Sal Romano gave his team five good innings, allowing just three runs on six hits.
However, the rival Mobile BayBears first three batters all earned hits off Romano and scored in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally for a 7-3 victory Wednesday at Hank Aaron Stadium. Pensacola and Mobile are now tied, 1-1, in the five game series.
BayBears catcher Ronnie Freeman doubled to right field to start the sixth inning. Third baseman Cody Regis followed him with a single to left field. Mobile second baseman Jamie Westbrook then got the third hit in a row, knocking Romano out of the game, with a single on a ground ball to left field that scored Freeman for a 4-3 BayBears’ lead.
Mobile starting pitcher John Omahen was walked by Pensacola reliever El’Hajj Muhammad to load the bases with none out. Mobile center fielder Evan Marzilli grounded out to Blue Wahoos shortstop Calten Daal and Regis crossed the plate to put the BayBears ahead, 5-3. Pensacola first baseman Donald Lutz then committed an error to allow Westbrook to make it home and give Mobile a 6-3 lead they would never relinquish.
Mobile’s relief corps shutdown the Blue Wahoos bats in the last three innings giving up one hit, one walk and striking out four.
Pensacola’s Romano worked five innings, gave up nine hits, allowed six runs, four earned, walked one and struck out three. He also allowed a two-run homer to Mitch Hangier in the third inning that tied the score, 3-3. Romano took the loss and is 1-5 with a 4.69 ERA for the Blue Wahoos this season.
Pensacola second baseman Brandon Dixon continued his hot-hitting in the last three games. He singled in Phillip Ervin in the third inning for his team-leading 31st RBI of the year. He is now on a 9-13 tear with four homers and 12 RBIs in the past three games. Dixon leads the team with seven homers on the year and moved into a tie with Pensacola third baseman Tony Renda with a .304 batting average. Renda was 1-4 with a run scored Wednesday.
Pensacola first baseman Donald Lutz knocked Renda with two outs in the first inning to put the Blue Wahoos on top, 1-0.
In the second inning Mobile tied the game, 1-1, when BayBears’ right-hander Omahen singled to centerfield to drive in right fielder Gabby Guerrero.
Blue Wahoos second baseman Dixon drove in Ervin for a 2-1 lead. Mobile’s Omahen then threw the ball away on a pickoff, allowing right fielder Sebastian Elizalde to score and put Pensacola ahead, 3-1.
Mobile’s Haniger tied the score, 3-3, with his two-run blast. Haniger was 1-5 on the night.
Pensacola’s four-game winning streak was snapped by Mobile and dropped them to 31-21 in the Southern League South Division. The BayBears improved to 23-29.
Dixon Has Second Straight Game With Two Homers
June 1, 2016
Pensacola Blue Wahoos second baseman Brandon Dixon was the player of the game for the team for the second straight night.
This time, the 24-year-old smashed two home runs for the second straight game and drove in five of the Blue Wahoo’s six runs for a, 6-5, victory over its rival the Mobile BayBears at Hank Aaron Stadium.
On Tuesday, Dixon was 4-4 with three runs scored, hitting his sixth and seventh homers of the season, which leads the team. He hit a solo blast to left field in the top of the second inning to put Pensacola ahead, 1-0. Then in the sixth inning, Dixon hit a two-out, two-run blast to left that also scored right fielder Sebastian Elizalde, giving Pensacola a 3-2 lead.
But Dixon wasn’t finished. He drove in two more runs on a double to left field in the eighth inning that scored both Elizalde and first baseman Kyle Parker, who hit back-to-back singles with one out. The runs put Pensacola up, 5-2, in the game.
Pensacola shortstop Zach Vincej then singled to left field to score Dixon and give the Blue Wahoos a critical, 6-2, lead.
Dixon now also leads the team with 30 RBIs and raised his batting average to .299.
Pensacola’s win in the opener of the five-game series kept them in first place in the Southern League South Division at 31-20. The Blue Wahoos also tied their longest win streak of the year at four games. The BayBears dropped to 22-29.
In the ninth inning, Mobile mounted a two-out rally by scoring three runs. Guerrero smashed his sixth homer of the season, a solo shot, to make the score, 6-3. Pensacola’s Phillip Ervin then made an error on a ball hit by Cron that allowed Mobile to pull within, 6-4, when catcher Ronnie Freeman scored. Pinch hitter Stewart Ijames then smacked a two-out double that scored Cron and Mobile was down just a run, 6-5.
Guerrero led the BayBears, going 2-4 with a home run and double with two runs scored and an RBI.
However, Pensacola closer Alejandro Chacin entered the game and got Mobile center fielder Evan Marzilli, the BayBears leadoff hitter who was hitting .354 in 23 games, to pop out to Blue Wahoos Vincej to end the game.
Chacin now leads the team with nine saves and is 2-0 and has an 0.84 ERA in 18 appearances.
Dixon Smashes Two Homers In Wahoos Win
May 30, 2016
Brandon Dixon hit a grand slam over the left field wall in the bottom of the first inning to give the Pensacola Blue Wahoos a lead it would never relinquished.
With one swing off of Birmingham lefty Blair Walters, Dixon gave Pensacola a, 4-3, lead and added another solo shot in the fifth inning to left center as the Blue Wahoos defeated Birmingham, 12-5, Sunday in front of its third straight sellout of 5,038 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Pensacola is now 5-for-5 in five-game series at home, beating Birmingham 4-1.
Blue Wahoos southpaw Amir Garrett uncharacteristically walked four batters in a row in the first inning, after getting the first two outs of the game on three pitches. After 35 pitches he finally got out of the inning giving up three runs to the Birmingham Barons.
Dixon was hitting .163 against left-handed pitchers entering the game. But he ended up with two homers for the second time in his minor league career. He had a career-high six RBIs. The second baseman now is tied with Pensacola outfielder Phillip Ervin with five home runs, leads the team with 25 RBIs and is batting .277 on the year.
In its franchise history dating back to 2012, the Blue Wahoos have hit 10 grand slams total.
“It definitely was one of my best games for sure,” the soft-spoke Dixon said. “I was looking for something up over the plate. I’ve struggled against lefties this year.”
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said he saw Dixon play in the California League two years ago and admired his swing.
“He’s one of those guys who has a different sound coming off of his bat,” Kelly said. “He’s got raw power and he’s starting to harness it. He has really been swinging the bat well.”
The Blue Wahoos remained in first place in the Southern League South Division at 30-20 and improved to 18-7 at home.
Not only did Dixon hit two blasts, but Garrett settled down after his rough start.
Birmingham scored in that first inning when Garrett gave up a two-out bases loaded walk to catcher Jeremy Dowdy to score DH Eudy Pina. The next batter Nick Basto hit a two-out, line drive double down the third base line that scored both Barons left fielder Courtney Hawkins and third baseman Trey Michalczewski to put Birmingham on top, 3-0.
“In the past, (Garrett) has been really emotional and really hard on himself,” Kelly said. “He was terrific. He pitched a solid six innings.”
Garrett would then bear down and throw 58 pitches the rest of the way. He retired the last seven batters he faced, striking out the last four before giving way to Pensacola reliever Kyle McMyne in the seventh.
Garrett, who gave up a double in the first inning gave up one more hit the rest of the way – a bunt single to Birmingham right fielder Keenyn Walker. Garrett, the Cincinnati Reds No 3 prospect, worked six innings, giving up three runs on two hits and four walks and striking out seven.
He’s now 4-3 on the year with a 1.79 earned-run average and a 1.06 WHIP. His ERA is fourth in the Southern League and he moved into third in strikeouts with 61 on the year.
Entering Friday’s game, Garrett walked 17 in 54.1 innings or 2.81 per nine innings. He did throw a season high five walks against the Biloxi Shuckers May 8.
Dixon was happy to give Garrett a lift.
“That’s the name of the game,” Dixon said. “We’ve been doing it all year long. After that (grand slam) Amir was lights out.”
With two outs and the bases loaded in the first inning, Dixon walked to the plate and promptly jumped on the first pitch by Birmingham lefty Blair Walters to put Pensacola ahead, 4-3, for good with his first grand slam of the season.
Dixon then hit a bullet over the left center wall for a 10-3 Pensacola lead. His sixth and final RBI came when he doubled in the eighth inning to score DH Donald Lutz.
Birmingham committed five errors and gave up 13 hits to Pensacola.
Other than Dixon, Tony Renda led the way at the plate going 2-3 with a double and two runs scored and an RBI. Renda is now batting .308 on the season after going 11-22 against the Barons this series.
Blue Wahoos Win Over Bimingham
May 29, 2016
Pensacola Blue Wahoos fans know Phillip Ervin is speedy. After all, he has stolen 19 bases this season, which is tied for third in the Southern League.
However, who knew he was so light on his feet?
Ervin refused to get tagged out in a rundown in the eighth inning that allowed Pensacola third baseman Tony Renda to score the winning run to edge the Birmingham Barons, 5-4, in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 Saturday at Blue Wahoos Stadium. It was the Blue Wahoos 11th sellout this season.
Ervin, who lost 10 pounds in the offseason, said that’s helped improve his speed and footwork. Ervin was 0-11 in his last three games before going 3-4 and getting on base four times, scoring twice, including the tying run in the sixth inning and knocking in one run.
“I just didn’t want to run into a tag and give (Renda) enough time to score,” Ervin said. “I was trying to get as many throws as possible. The more throws the more chance of getting a mistake. It all worked out in the end.”
Renda, who leads Pensacola with 14 multi-hit games and a .302 average, scored the winning run and Ervin made it to second base when shortstop Eddy Alvarez dropped the ball. The rundown started when right fielder Sebastian Elizalde grounded to the second baseman.
Pat Kelly called the game “ugly.” There was a combined 21 hits, seven walks, seven errors and 21 runners left on base in the three hour and 16 minute game.
“It was an ugly game and we didn’t play very good,” Kelly said. “(Barons pitcher David) Holmberg put the whole ballpark to sleep. We played ugly enough to win.”
Birmingham center fielder Adam Engel takes Blue Wahoos pitcher Nick Travieso over the left field wall in first inning to put the Barons ahead, 1-0.
Then in the bottom of the first inning, Pensacola third baseman Tony Renda led off with a stand-up double to the left center gap and scored on left fielder Phillip Ervin’s line drive single to left to tie the game, 1-1. Ervin then scored after stealing second and third base, his 18th and 19th steals on the season, when DH Donald Lutz hit a sharp liner to center field to put the Blue Wahoos up, 2-1.
Lutz is hitting .368 in his six game hitting streak (7-19) with one RBI, three walks and only four strikeouts. On the year, Lutz, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, is hitting .217.
Birmingham’s starter Holmberg threw 43 pitches in the inning in which he also walked Pensacola first baseman Kyle Parker and hit center fielder Bryson Smith with a pitch. Last season, Holmberg started six games going 1-4 with a 7.62 ERA for Cincinnati Reds last season before being granted free agency.
Birmingham tied the game, 2-2, when Barons first baseman Nick Basto, who singled to right field, scored on a wild pitch by Travieso.
Birmingham loaded bases with one out in the fourth inning and Travieso went to three balls and no strikes on Birmingham third baseman Jake Peter, the No. 3 hitter, and ended up striking him out on a 93 mph heater.
However, right fielder Eudy Pina slapped a grounder to Pensacola’s Renda at third base and he threw it to second baseman Alex Blandino, who dropped the ball and then was slow to pick it up, allowing Barons shortstop Eddy Alvarez and center fielder Adam Engel to score for a 4-2 lead.
Travieso threw 101 pitches over 5.2 innings and gave up 11 hits, four runs, three earned and struck out six. He battled out of jams all night, except in the fifth inning when he retired Birmingham 1-2-3.
Pensacola catcher Joe Hudson launched a deep fly ball for a double over the center fielder’s head in the bottom of the fifth inning that drove in second baseman Zach Vincej, pulling the Blue Wahoos within, 4-3.
Pensacola loaded the bases in the sixth inning and Ervin, who doubled, scored on a wild pitch by Barons reliever Nolan Sanburn to tie the game, 4-4.
The only thing that wasn’t ugly about the game was when center fielder Bryson Smith, who has played parts of the last five seasons with Pensacola, proposed to his girlfriend, the future Raphaelle Smith. Smith got down on one knee after the game and asked for her hand in marriage. Then fireworks went off.
The Blue Wahoos captured its fifth straight five game series at home and improved to 17-7 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. This season, they are 29-20 and remain in first place against the Biloxi Shuckers, who defeated Mobile, 2-1, to improve to 28-21.
Blue Wahoos Beat The Barons
May 28, 2016
Pensacola Blue Wahoos’ do-it-all Tony Renda, not only can play nearly every position on the field, he’s also a mathematician.
Renda, who’s batted first in the lineup 15 times this season, singled to start Friday’s game and scored the first run of the game when Blue Wahoos first baseman Kyle Parker knocked him in on a line drive to center field.
“It helps cause 76 percent of the time the team that scores first wins,” Renda said. “You might want to check that. But if you believe it long enough, it comes true.”
Well, Pensacola did go on to win Friday by beating the Birmingham Barons, 9-1, in front of its third straight Friday night sellout of 5,038 fans at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
He made up for going 0-5 the previous game to end his five game hitting streak by going 4-5, all singles, scoring a run, and walking. Renda, who came over in the Cincinnati Reds trade with the New York Yankees for closer Aroldis Chapman, is batting .307 (16-52) when leading off an inning. He leads the Blue Wahoos with a .293 average this season.
He played both second and third base Friday. Renda has been regulated to second base most of his professional career. But he’s played every position except for catcher, pitcher, first base and center field, so far.
“Hey, it’s fun,” he said about playing multiple positions for the Blue Wahoos. “I show up to the park and it’s a guessing game where I’m going to play that day.”
Blue Wahoos team improved to 28-20 and regained sole possession of first place again from the Biloxi Shuckers who dropped to 27-21 with a 1-0 loss to the Mobile BayBears.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said Renda always tells him that he’s played the position that he starts him in.
“He gets us going,” Kelly said. “He just sparks our offense and everyone else follows.”
Pensacola jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. After Renda scored when Parker extended his hitting streak to six games, Pensacola center fielder Phillip Ervin, who had walked, scored on a bases-loaded walk by third baseman Eric Jagielo, who was tossed from the game for arguing a third strike call in the fifth inning.
Chicago White Sox No. 1 prospect Carson Fulmer continued to struggle with his control. The eighth pick overall in the 2015 draft, walked seven Pensacola batters in four innings. The Barons pitcher walked eight against the Jackson Generals on May 11. Birmingham pitchers walked 11 total Pensacola batters.
Still the Blue Wahoos had trouble scoring, leaving the bases loaded three times in the first five innings. In all, Pensacola left a season high 14 runners on base.
However, Barrett Astin in his third spot start for the injured Rookie Davis, went five innings and gave up one run on three hits and struck out three. He had no walks. Astin, who started for Pensacola last year, improved to 4-1 on the season with a 3.00 ERA.
“Pitching was the key,” Kelly said. “(Astin) gave up only three hits. It was a nice start.”
Pensacola finally pulled away when it scored three runs in the sixth inning to take a 6-1 lead.
The first run of the inning came when right fielder Sebastian Elizalde scored from third base on a ground out by Pensacola catcher Chad Wallach to make the score, 4-1. Blue Wahoos second baseman Zach Vincej then drove the ball through the left side of the infield to score DH Donald Lutz to go up, 5-1.
Pensacola went ahead, 6-1, when left fielder Jeff Gelalich beat out a bouncer to second base. Barons first baseman Jake Peter turned and fired to his catcher Jeremy Dowdy but Vincej slid around the tag on the bam-bam play.
The hit that gave the Blue Wahoos a big breather, though, came when Wallach capped the game off with a deep three-run shot over the left field fence in the seventh inning. It was his third blast of the year and the Blue Wahoos third homer in the past 11 games. The other two homers shot off the bat of Parker. Pensacola now has 25 home runs this season with 15 coming in May.
Pensacola Mullets Fall To Birmingham
May 27, 2016
After the game, Pensacola manager Pat Kelly wanted to know if its 6-4 loss to the Birmingham Barons counted against the Blue Wahoos.
On “What If” night Thursday, the Pensacola players sported Mullet jerseys, instead of its regular Blue Wahoos uniforms and they played in Mullet Stadium.
“The Mullets are 0-1,” Kelly said jokingly. “I don’t think it counts against our record.”
Unfortunately, the loss does go in the Blue Wahoos loss column. The team fell into a first place tie with the Biloxi Shuckers at 27-20.
The logo for the Mullet name sported the fish with a mullet leaning up against the letter “P” for Pensacola. In 2012, the fish was one of six finalists for the name of the Cincinnati Reds Double-A affiliate.
The loss spoiled a strong outing by big righty Sal Romano.
Romano got the first five outs of the game on strike outs. He finished with a season-high nine strikeouts and lasted 7 innings for the second time in three games. He walked just one batter. Romano still got a K on a 94 mph fastball in the seventh inning when he struck out Birmingham center fielder Adam Engel.
Kelly said the 21-year-old Romano, the Cincinnati Reds No. 9 prospect, is slowly turning into a pitcher, instead of a thrower.
“The seventh inning might have been his best inning,” Kelly said of Romano, who set the Barons down in order. “It’s small baby steps but he’s not rearing back and throwing as hard as he can. Harder is not always the best.”
Romano said when he takes the mound his goal is to reach the seventh inning. That’s much easier to do with his increasing confidence in his changeup that he has been developing the last few seasons.
“That’s a big thing for me,” he said. “I just said, ‘Let’s bear down here.’ I’m trying to make pitches, not just be a big kid throwing hard.”
Pensacola came back in the bottom of the eighth to make it a one-run game, 5-4, against the Barons, who tied the series, 1-1.
The Mullets loaded the bases on two walks and a single. Pensacola center fielder Phillip Ervin scored on DH Sebastian Elizalde’s ground out and then Mullets first baseman Kyle Parker scored on a wild pitch. Pensacola catcher Chad Wallach, who entered the game in an 0-12 slump, then singled in Mullet’s second baseman Brandon Dixon. Wallach was 2-3, walked and knocked in a run.
Birmingham scored an insurance run in the ninth, however. The Barons added another run in the ninth when Engel singled in Barons shortstop Eddy Alvarez with no outs. With runners on first and third for Birmingham, Pensacola center fielder Bryson Smith caught a fly ball by right fielder Eudy Pina and then threw a perfect strike to Wallach to get Engel out at the plate and prevent more runs from scoring.
“Bryson did a nice job staying back on the ball,” Kelly said.
Also playing well for the one-time Mullets Thursday, was Pensacola first baseman Kyle Parker, who made up for his error by slicing a solo shot over the left field wall just inside the foul pole in the fourth inning to pull the Mullets within, 2-1. Parker got on base three times and scored twice.
Birmingham first baseman Jake Peter also hit his fourth home run of the season on a solo blast in the fifth inning to put the Barons up, 3-1.
Blue Wahoos Down Barons In Series Opener
May 26, 2016
Jackson Stephens’ family rarely miss his starts, making the five-hour drive from their home in Oxford, Ala., near the Georgia border to Pensacola.
They left the game in good spirits on Wednesday. Their son didn’t walk anybody, plus he improved his record to 4-3 and his ERA dropped to 3.22.
“My dad hates walks,” Stephens said. “I didn’t have any so he was pumped. My mom, she just wants to see her baby do good and she’s happy.”
Stephens, coming off of a combined no-hitter against the Jacksonville Suns on May 20, threw another gem. He threw seven scoreless innings allowing five hits and striking out a season-high nine batters for the second time this season. He has now thrown 12 scoreless innings.
Pensacola earned the victory, 5-1, over the Birmingham Barons in the opening game of the five-game series in front of 3,993 fans Wednesday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Stephens pumped his fist after getting first baseman Nick Basto to fly out to Donald Lutz in left field to end the seventh inning.
All four of his pitches – a two- and four-seam fastball, curveball and slider – were working for him Wednesday. He said his seven scoreless innings Thursday were similar to his last outing when he pitched five innings without allowing a hit but giving up two walks.
“I’d say they were similar,” said the 21-year-old Stephens. “You’re not going to go out there and throw no hitters all the time. My stuff was there. I was able to get ahead in the pitch count with a lot of early strikes.”
Stephens, who entered the game with opponents hitting .221 off him, limited Birmingham to .192 (5-26) Thursday.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly also liked what he saw from Stephens, who got ahead of hitters Thursday. Kelly pointed out Stephens threw about 85 pitches in both his five inning outing and Thursday’s seven inning game.
“He’s been throwing bullets but wasting them early in the ball game,” Kelly said. “That’s what he’s got to do.”
Pensacola retook sole possession of first place from the Biloxi Shuckers, who vaulted into the Southern Division lead when they beat the Blue Wahoos April 19. Pensacola is 27-19, while Biloxi is 26-19, after losing to Mobile BayBears, 9-1, Wednesday.
Pensacola’s third baseman Tony Renda doubled to lead off the first inning, went to third on a groundout by center fielder Phillip Ervin and scored on a wild pitch to give the Blue Wahoos a 1-0 lead.
Renda was also involved in the second run scored by the Blue Wahoos, too, in the third inning when he singled to drive in Pensacola catcher Chad Wallach. Renda tried to stretch his single into a double but was thrown out at second base by left fielder Courtney Hawkins.
Kelly was happy with Renda’s aggressiveness against Birmingham starter Tyler Danish, the White Sox No. 11 prospect, who threw a complete game shutout the last time he faced the Blue Wahoos on April 29.
“To scratch out a few runs early was nice,” Kelly admitted. “(Renda) had that big RBI for the second run.”
DH Eric Jagielo hit a two-out blooper to left field in the sixth inning that drove in Kyle Parker, who had singled, to put Pensacola ahead, 3-0.
Dixon got the third straight hit to start the eighth inning to drive in two runs and put Pensacola up, 5-0.
New York Yankee transplants who came over in the Cincinnati Reds trade for closer Ardolis Chapman, Renda and Eric Jagielo led the team at the plate Thursday. Renda hit in his fifth straight game, going 2-4 with a double and one run scored. Meanwhile, Jagielo went 2-4 and drove in the third run off of Birmingham’s Danish.
Jagielo, an All-Star in his previous minor league seasons, is hitting .180 but Kelly expressed confidence in him.
“To me it’s just a relaxation thing,” Kelly said. “When you’re coming to a new organization you want to show everybody what you can do. He looked good tonight.”
Spring Football: Northview Downs Jay (With Gallery)
May 25, 2016
The Northview Chiefs defeated the Jay Royals Tuesday night in spring football action.
In a junior varsity quarter, Northview topped Jay 7-0. In a full varsity scrimmage, Northview defeated Jay 34-0.
For a photo gallery, click here.
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