Winker Homers In Fifth Straight, Wahoos Win
August 16, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (28-21, 53-64) defeated the Biloxi Shuckers (23-25, 66-50) in front of a packed house at MGM Park.
Jesse Winker homered in his fifth consecutive game to give the Wahoos the lead for good, as he hit a two-run blast in the eighth inning to break a scoreless tie. He finished 2-4 on the night and brought his home run total to 13 on the year. The homer was also his 10th of the second half.
Wahoos starter Cody Reed (3-1) pitched 7.0 scoreless innings while striking out ten batters in the victory. He was matched by Biloxi starter Tyler Wagner, who also pitched a 7.0 inning shutout. The loss went to Shuckers reliever Yhonathan Barrios (1-1), who allowed Winker’s two-run bomb. Zack Weiss earned the save for the Wahoos, his 20th of the season.
The Wahoos threatened in the top of the fourth as Ryan Wright led off with a double. However, he was eliminated at third on a throw from center fielder Brett Phillips after a Winker single. Marquez Smith would then single to put two on, but Wagner would retire the next two after that.
They came close to breaking the tie again in the seventh as Sean Buckley doubled with a man on base. Seth Mejias-Brean was then eliminated at home after a pair of great throws from Phillips and Orlando Arcia.
Winker broke the tie in the top of the eighth with a two-run blast to right-center. The homer was his fifth in as many games, matching Kyle Skipworth’s previous season high.
The Shuckers made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth as a sacrifice fly by Nick Shaw made it 2-1. However, Weiss was able to get his 20th save of the season with the potential tying run on third.
Four Games, Four Homers For Winker As The Wahoos Beat Biloxi
August 15, 2015
Pensacola left fielder Jesse Winker wasted no time in crushing his fourth homer in four games when he hit a deep fly ball to left field against Biloxi in the first inning.
Winker now has 12 homers and 44 RBIs, which leads the Blue Wahoos.
Winker’s dinger was the only run Pensacola needed as it pulled out a 1-0 victory over Biloxi Friday at MGM Park.
The win ended a two game slide and improved Pensacola’s record to 27-21 and a half game behind Mobile in second place in the second half of the South Division in the Southern League. Biloxi, the South’s first half winner, dropped to 23-24 and is in fourth place in the second half.
Last month, Pensacola catcher Kyle Skipworth hit five homers in five games. The Southern League record is six home runs in six games.
Winker, the top prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization according to MLB Pipeline, finished the game 1-2 with a walk. He is hitting .311 in the second half with nine home runs and 27 RBIs. In August, he’s hitting .392 (20-51) and has a .455 on-base percentage.
Pensacola only other hit besides Winker’s was catcher Yovan Gonzalez’s double in his first at bat in the second inning. He went 1-3 and has now hit in six straight games. During his streak, Gonzalez is batting (10-19) with three doubles, two homers and four RBIs. He’s raised his average from .177 to .238.
In the eighth inning, Pensacola closer Zack Weiss came in relief of starter Tim Adleman after he allowed a double to left fielder Nathan Orf with one out. Adleman blanked the Shuckers for 7.1 innings, limiting them to five hits, one walk and striking out five. Adleman, who held Biloxi’s top five batters in the lineup to one hit in 20 at bats, improved to 7-8 and now owns a Southern League-leading 2.27 ERA.
Weiss retired the last five batters he faced, striking out two and is a top the Southern League in saves at 18.
Winker Homers Again, Wahoos Lose To Biloxi
August 14, 2015
Pensacola left fielder Jesse Winker hit a three-run homer in the third inning and now has smacked three homers in three games. The top prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization according to MLB Pipeline now tops the Blue Wahoos with 11 home runs on the year and 43 RBIs.
Right fielder Juan Duran also homered against the Biloxi Shuckers in the inning and Pensacola went up, 4-1, at MGM Park.
But Biloxi broke out with five runs in the fifth and pulled out its second straight victory, 6-5, against Pensacola.
Blue Wahoos centerfielder Bryson Smith singled in shortstop Zach Vincej in the top of the ninth with two-out to pull Pensacola within one but that’s as close as it would get.
Biloxi’s big five-run inning started off with shortstop Orlando Arcia, ranked the eighth best prospect in America by Baseball America, hitting his 32nd double of the year to score two runs. Arcia would then score on a passed ball to tie the game, 4-4. Shuckers third baseman Taylor Green singled in the final two runs of the rally that sent nine batters to the plate and put Biloxi up, 6-4.
Pensacola fell to 26-21 and third place in the second half of the South Division in the Southern League. Biloxi, the first half winner, improved to 23-23 and is in fourth place behind Pensacola.
Meanwhile, Winker is hitting hotter than the sweltering August temperatures at .308 in the second half with eight home runs and 26 RBIs. In August, he’s hitting .387. He went 2-4 against Biloxi, his fourth multi-hit game in his past six games, with a run scored and the three-run shot.
Winkler Homers, Wahoos Lose To Biloxi
August 13, 2015
Jesse Winker hit his second solo home run in two games but it lead off the ninth inning and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos dropped the opener of its five-game series, 4-1, with the Biloxi Shuckers.
It was the first time the Blue Wahoos played in the Shuckers new MGM Park in downtown Biloxi near the Gulf of Mexico and Beau Rivage Casino.
Pensacola entered the game in first place in the second half but the loss dropped them to 26-20 in and one game behind the Mississippi Braves in the South Division of the Southern League. Biloxi, the first half winner, improved to 22-23 and is in fourth place in the second half.
The game was a far cry from the Blue Wahoos offensive explosion Tuesday against the Birmingham Barons when it scored 13 runs on a season-high 19 hits.
Wednesday night, Pensacola managed just one run on five hits. Winker, the Cincinnati Reds top prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was the only hitter to manage two hits, going 2-4 and reaching 40 RBIs on his solo blast to left field. He now hitting .303 in the second half with seven home runs and 23 RBIs.
Biloxi pitcher Jorge Lopez, the Milwaukee Brewers No. 9 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits, two walks and striking out eight. He improved to 11-5 with a 2.45 ERA on the year.
Center fielder Brett Phillips knocked in Biloxi’s first run in the second inning with a two-out double that scored catcher Adam Weisenburger for a 1-0 lead.
Biloxi added two more in the third when first baseman Nick Ramirez doubled in second baseman Nathan Orf and Weisenburger singled in Ramirez to go ahead, 3-0.
Biloxi scored its last run in the fourth inning when left fielder Victor Roache singled in Phillips to go up, 4-0.
Wahoos Win, Move Into Tie For First Place
August 12, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos exploded offensively — like a bull bursting out of the chute at the buzzer — with Jesse Winker, Bryson Smith and Juan Duran hitting long home runs to left field right out of the gate to put the club up 8-0 after the first two innings.
The Birmingham Barons tried to hang on but Pensacola won 13-10 and the Blue Wahoos captured its sixth series of the second half in front of 4,012 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said in his 40-plus years of managing, Tuesday’s game was one of the “craziest.”
“It was one of the craziest ones I’ve been a member of in quite a while,” Kelly said. “We scored so early we tried to keep emphasizing to our team to keep scoring.”
Pensacola’s offensive explosion included its first multi-homer inning this season when Bryson Smith and Duran both hit dingers in the second inning. Smith crushed a three-run homer and Duran smacked a mammoth, two-out homer over the lights in deep left field to put Pensacola up, 8-0.
Blue Wahoos left fielder Jesse Winker, the Cincinnati Reds top prospect according to MLB Pipeline, started a two-out, three-run rally in the first inning with an opposite field, solo home run that put the Blue Wahoos up 1-0. Pensacola tied its season-high of three home runs in a game.
Marquez Smith then smashed a grounder to Birmingham third baseman Tony Thomas who threw it wide of first, allowing Smith to reach second. Blue Wahoos right fielder Juan Duran’s sharp grounder to diving Barons’ shortstop Tim Anderson drove in Smith, who got a big jump on the hit and beat the throw to home plate to make the score, 2-0.
Pensacola added a third run when Duran scored on third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean’s double on a line drive that fell between the center fielder and right fielder.
By the time Birmingham stopped Pensacola’s breakout at the plate in the fifth inning, the Blue Wahoos had 11 runs and 14 hits, while Birmingham had no runs and three hits.
At the end of the game, Pensacola compiled 13 runs and a season-high 19 hits. Pensacola also added eight extra base hits and leads the Southern League with 127 extra base hits since July 1.
Every Blue Wahoos starter earned a hit Tuesday. Pensacola center fielder Bryson Smith led the way with a 5-6 night with two runs scored and four RBIs, which included his three-run homer and a double. Smith, who has three homers for Pensacola, said the five hits is the most he’s recorded in his professional career.
Smith, who has played in Pensacola at least once a season since its inaugural season in 2012, said he clobbered a hanging slider.
“The wind might have blown it out. I don’t know,” Smith said jokingly. “That was a lot of runs. At some point, you just want it to stop and it did thankfully.”
In addition, the teams combined for 33 hits, which ties the franchise record set against Jacksonville on Aug. 10, 2013.
The Pensacola franchise records are 17 runs and 22 hits in a 17-1 victory in Jacksonville on April 21, 2014.
Meanwhile, right-hander Barret Astin took care of the Barons, throwing six innings, giving up five runs on nine hits, striking out two and walking one.
Birmingham mounted its own offensive attack scoring seven runs over three innings from the fifth through the seventh. It included a three-run blast by first baseman Jeremy Dowdy in the fifth inning and a solo blast by third baseman Thomas in the sixth.
Pensacola came right back with two runs in the seventh inning to go back up 13-7 when Winker doubled in Bryson Smith and Duran singled past the second basemen to drive in Winker.
Birmingham still had more runs to score after Jacob May launched a three-run homer in the eighth inning to bring the Barons back within three, 13-10.
Kelly said he was trying to resist using closer Zack Weiss, who now has a Southern League-leading 18 saves and had struck out the side four times in his last six outings. Weiss recorded the last five outs in the score fest.
“In the fourth inning their best player (shortstop Tim Anderson) comes out of the game and they get within striking distance of beating us,” Kelly said. “There were times in the seventh and eighth that I thought we might lose it. It was chaos.”
The Blue Wahoos head to play the Biloxi Shuckers tied for first place with the Mississippi Braves in the second half in the Southern League South Division at 26-19 (51-62). Biloxi, which moved into its new stadium June 6, won the first half of the South Division.
Bryson Smith, who came from Triple-A Louisville July 17, said he’s looking forward to the five-game series, since Pensacola has not had a winning half yet.
“Obviously, we can’t put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” he said. “It’s fun to be in the hunt. We just have to do our best. I’ve been here a couple years, so it’s really nice to be a part of all of this.”
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos travel to play a five-game series beginning at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers Double-A affiliate the Biloxi Shuckers.
Wahoos Drop To B’ham
August 11, 2015
One of the areas that Pensacola Blue Wahoos manager Pat Kelly wanted to see improve in the second half was the team’s bullpen.
The Blue Wahoos used three relievers Monday, who allowed one run on seven hits and one walk over 6.1 innings and struck out four.
Despite the solid performances by Jacob Johnson, Joel Bender and Kyle McMyne in relief of starter Cody Reed, Pensacola dropped its second straight game to Southern League North Division leaders the Birmingham Barons, 7-2, in front of 4,136 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
However, the Blue Wahoos remained tied for second place with the Mississippi Braves in the second half in the Southern League South Division at 25-19 (50-62).
The bullpen got its opportunity to show its stuff when Pensacola left-hander Cody Reed was chased after 2.2 innings. Reed came over in the Johnny Cueto trade July 26 with the Kansas City Royals and was making a much-anticipated Double-A start at home.
Kelly said the relievers kept Pensacola in the game. The Barons had the bases loaded in the second and seventh innings and runners at first and third in the third inning but couldn’t get a run across the plate.
“They did a great job,” Kelly said. “We had a couple of opportunities and they kept us in the game.”
Reed entered the game 2-0 in two starts on the road with a 0.60 ERA, giving up one run in 15 innings. The Southern League pitcher of the week, though, promptly faced nine batters and gave up five runs in the first inning to Birmingham. However, in the second inning he struck out the top of the Barons’ order.
But when the struggling Reed walked in a run in the third inning, he was pulled. His line was: 2.2 innings, six earned runs, three hits, five walks and three strikeouts.
Kelly said he liked that Reed kept his composure despite being in trouble most of his start.
“His command was a little off,” Kelly said. “He really competes. He came out in the second inning and struck out the side. I liked what I saw. He didn’t give in.”
Meanwhile, Birmingham starter Frankie Montas shut down the Blue Wahoos lineup over the first five innings. He allowed four hits one run and zero earned runs walked two and struck out five. Rated the No. 89 prospect in Major League Baseball, Montas improved to 4-3 and lowered his ERA to 2.59.
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos play the final game of a five-game series at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox Double-A affiliate the Birmingham Barons.
Wahoos Win Second Straight Over Birmingham Barons
August 9, 2015
Three Pensacola Blue Wahoos smacked home runs and the club won its second straight game over the Birmingham Barons Saturday.
Blue Wahoos center fielder Bryson Smith doubled with two outs in the eighth inning to score Pensacola speedster Beau Amaral from third with the winning run, 8-7, in front of its 20th sellout of the year at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
It was Pensacola’s seventh win in the last nine games and the Blue Wahoos remained a half-game back of Southern League South Division second half leader the Mobile BayBears at 25-17 (49-60). Mobile is 25-16 in the second half.
Pensacola came back to defeat the Barons after trailing, 5-1, in the third inning. Blue Wahoos shortstop Alex Blandino smashed a three-run homer to left field in the bottom of the third inning to bring Pensacola within one run, 5-4. Both catcher Yovan Gonzalez and Bryson Smith scored on Blandino’s second homer for the Blue Wahoos since joining the club Aug. 3.
Pensacola also got a monstrous solo blast from third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean in the second inning, which was his sixth of the year to have a team-leading 42 RBIs. Gonzalez, who now has a four-game hit streak, hit his third homer of the year when he smashed a two-run blast in the fourth inning.
The Blue Wahoos have led the Southern League since July 1 with 117 extra base hits.
Coming back from four runs down is something the Blue Wahoos have rarely done this season, said Pensacola manager Pat Kelly. Kelly credits the addition of right fielder Juan Duran’s bat to the lineup July 1 after he completed injury rehab.
“He really lengthens our lineup,” Kelly said. “Everyone is in a position now where they are very comfortable.”
Kelly said he was most impressed with Blandino’s homer to left. “That was a big blow right there,” he said.
He also complimented Gonzalez, the backup catcher for the Wahoos, who was 1-2 with two walks Saturday and scored two runs.
“He’s swinging a great bat the last four or five games,” Kelly said. “He’s done it in limited play. He’s in a tough role. It’s nice to see that production.”
Gonzalez’s two-run homer in the fourth brought the Blue Wahoos within, 7-6. Buckley then scored on a Ryan Wright sacrifice fly to right to tie the game, 7-7, in the sixth inning.
Birmingham went up 7-4 when third baseman Nicky Delmonico, who had a home run and three RBIs, singled in shortstop Tim Anderson, who hit a leadoff double in the fourth inning. Delmonico then scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by designated hitter Danny Hayes.
Anderson, the Chicago White Sox top prospect, went 2-4 with a double, scored three times and stole three bases for a Southern League-leading 44 steals on the year.
“He is such a threat,” Kelly said. “Plus, he plays great at shortstop.”
Wahoos Beat The B’ham Barons
August 8, 2015
You know things are going right for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos when your eighth and ninth hitters each jack solo homers over the left field wall and score three of the team’s five runs.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos designated hitter Sean Buckley scored twice on a solo home run and double and center fielder Beau Amaral scored once, smashing a solo shot and hitting a sharp grounder to third that scored Buckley.
The Blue Wahoos opened the five-game series Friday with the Birmingham Barons with a 5-3 victory in front of 4,422 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Buckley joked that he received a new shipment Friday of 34-inch, 32-ounce bats that helped him hit his second homer of the season.
“I got some new bats and think they were the key,” the 6-foot-3 Buckley said. “The pitcher (Tyler Danish) throws a lot of sinkers. I was looking for a sinker and put a good swing on it.”
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said Buckley, the eighth hitter, and Amaral, the ninth hitter, came through for the Blue Wahoos Friday.
Buckley went 3-4 with two runs, a homer, a double and one RBI. Meanwhile, Amaral was 1-4 with the homer for an RBI and drove in Buckley in the eighth on a hard-hit grounder to Birmingham third baseman Nicky Delmonico that he could not corral.
“Buckley’s not your typical eight hitter,” Kelly said. “He hit three balls on the nose.”
The Blue Wahoos, who hit five extra base hits Friday, have a Southern League leading 112 extra base hits since July 1.
Pensacola had taken the lead, 4-3, in the seventh inning when left fielder Jesse Winker and first baseman Marquez Smith smacked back-to-back, two-out doubles. It put the Blue Wahoos ahead for the first time in the game.
Winker, who went 2-2 with a run scored and two walks, bounced his double off the left center wall. Smith then hit a chopper down the third base line that rolled into the left field corner.
Birmingham had gone back on top, 3-2, in the fifth inning when left fielder Marcus Lemon hit a bloop double to shallow left field just inside the foul line and scored on third baseman Nicky Delmonico’s ground out.
The Blue Wahoos also enjoyed seven strong innings from Daniel Wright who gave up three runs on five hits and struck out seven in seven innings. He improved to 8-8 with a 4.62 ERA.
Pensacola relievers Patrick Schuster and Zack Weiss ended the game with each striking out the side in their one innings of relief. Weiss now has a team-leading 16 saves and 45 strikeouts in 36.1 innings.
Kelly praised his starter for giving up just three runs in seven innings, including two in the first, and working out of a jam when he walked the first two batters who made it to second and third before Pensacola ended the threat.
“The whole key was him going seven innings and giving up three runs,” Kelly said.
Pensacola moved into just a half-game back of Southern League South Division second half leader the Mobile BayBears at 24-17 (49-60). Mobile is 24-16 in the second half.
Jacksonville Hangs On To Beat The Wahoos 5-4
August 7, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos came within one run of tying the Jacksonville Suns after a two-run homer with no outs by catcher Kyle Skipworth.
However, the Suns got the next three batters out to pull out a, 5-4, victory and end the Blue Wahoos three-game win streak. But Pensacola won the overall series, 12-8, and captured the Golden Skillet trophy, given to the winner of the series between the Florida rivals, for the first time since its inaugural season in 2012.
Skipworth, who hit a franchise record five home runs in five games for Pensacola in July and fell one game short of the Southern League record, hit his team-leading 10th homer of the season to right field that also scored center fielder Beau Amaral. But that was the closest Pensacola would come.
Pensacola jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when third baseman Marquez Smith hit his fourth triple of the season and right fielder Juan Duran knocked him in with a sacrifice fly to right field.
But Jacksonville posted the next five runs to go ahead, 5-1. The Suns second baseman David Adams scored when catcher Sharif Othman grounded out into a double play to knot the game, 1-1, in the second inning.
Then in the fourth, Jacksonville added four more with three coming on first baseman Viosergy Rosa’s three-run home run to right field.
Pensacola added a run in the eighth when right fielder Bryson Smith hit a solo shot to pull within, 5-2, which set up Skipworth in the ninth.
Pensacola’s loss at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville left the Blue Wahoos in second place at 23-17 (48-60) in the Southern League South Division. The Suns are in last place at 14-26 (43-66).
New FHSAA Overhaul Bill Filed
August 6, 2015
After a proposal to overhaul the Florida High School Athletic Association died this spring, a House Republican has filed a scaled-back version that could renew debate during the 2016 legislative session. Rep. Ross Spano, R-Dover, this week filed the measure (HB 31), which includes pieces of a broader bill that passed the House in April but failed in the Senate.
Proposals to revamp the athletic organization have been controversial in recent years and have involved issues such as the association’s governance and the eligibility of high-school athletes.
Spano’s bill, in part, would prevent fees collected by the association for such things as special events and sanctioning to exceed the association’s actual costs. It also would allow schools to join the association on a per-sport basis and would prevent the association from discouraging schools’ membership in other athletic organizations.
by The News Service of Florida