Jacksonville Edges The Pensacola Blue Wahoos

April 19, 2012

Jacksonville right fielder Kyle Jensen and catcher Kyle Skipworth both homered, while the Suns thwarted a Pensacola comeback attempt led by a trio of longballs and shortstop Didi Gregorius’ four hits to top the Blue Wahoos 8-7. With the win, the Suns clinched a series victory on Wednesday night at Pensascola’s bayfront stadium.

Jensen led off the second with his longball, while Skipworth left the yard in the following frame to help push the Suns to an early 4-0 advantage. Pensacola brought the contest to within one run when second baseman Brodie Greene deposited a 2-0 pitch over the left field wall with two men on for his first roundtripper of the season.

After the Suns plated two runs in the sixth, the Blue Wahoos roared back with a three-run seventh to draw the contest even. Center fielder Ryan LaMarre began the inning with a solo home run to right center, while first baseman Joel Guzman went deep later in the frame with a two-run blast to even the score.

Jacksonville again answered with a pair of tallies in the eighth to grab back the lead at 8-6, but Pensacola did not go down quietly in the final frame. Gregorius singled and moved to third on third baseman Henry Rodriguez’s single, before he was brought home on Guzman’s sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to one. Greene then singled to place the tying run in scoring position for pinch hitter Mark Fleury, who fought hard in an eight pitch at bat but was called out on strikes to end the contest.

Suns reliever Joshua Schmidt (0.2 IP, 1 SO) earned his first victory of the season, while Blue Wahoos RHP Drew Hayes (1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB) suffered the loss to fall to 0-2 on the year. Jacksonville closer Evan Reed (2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 SO) pitched the final two frames to notch the save, his fourth of the year.

Gregorius’ (4-5, 3 R) four-hit game was his second of the season after accomplishing that feat less than a week earlier, while LaMarre (2-5, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI), Rodriguez (2-5, 1 R, 1 2B), Greene (2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI) and right fielder P.J. Phillips (2-4) all collected multi-hit efforts in the loss. Jacksonville shortstop Chris Gutierrez (2-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB) was the lone Suns hitter to tally a multi-hit contest, adding two runs and two RBI.

Pensacola and Jacksonville will meet Thursday night in the final game of the five-game series, with first pitch set for 7:00 pm. The Blue Wahoos are slated to send RHP J.C. Sulbaran to the hill, while the Suns are expected to hand the ball to RHP Omar Poveda.

Thursday night’s contest will be the first Thirsty Thursday of the season, with domestic drafts on sale for $2 dollars, while 12 ounce canned  sodas will be $1 dollar. The Fur Circus, featuring three circus-themed mascots, will also be on hand for the second night in a row to perform before and during the game.

By Andrew Green

Pictured: Shortstop Didi Gregorius had four hits in Pensacola’s 8-7 loss to the Suns Wednesday night. Photo by Chris Nelson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports