Montgomery Tops Pensacola 12-2

July 14, 2014

At least two Pensacola Blue Wahoos players had a day to remember on the field Sunday – outfielder Jesse Winker and pitcher Robert Stephenson.

Playing in the 16th annual SiriusXM All-Star Futures game with the top 50 prospects in minor league baseball at Target Field in Minneapolis, Winker had the game’s first hit and first run, while Stephenson had the fastest recorded pitch in the game among all the pitchers at 98.1 miles per hour.

Meanwhile, the Blue Wahoos had a forgettable day against the Montgomery Biscuits at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium, losing 12-2. The Wahoos are now 5-41 in games they trailed after seven innings.

But in Minnesota, Winker, the Cincinnati Reds No. 4 prospect, hit a double off the left field wall to lead off the third inning and later scored to give the U.S. Team a 1-0 lead over the World Team. He went 1-2 on the day.

Wahoos leftfielder Kyle Waldrop has known Winker the past two years and said all the players cheered in the dugout when his hit was announced to the stadium.

“He definitely deserves to be there,” Waldrop said. “We were all excited for him.”

Stephenson threw a scoreless 8th inning. In a matchup of the Reds’ top prospect versus the Chicago Cubs’ top prospect – shortstop Javier Baez – Stephenson came out on top striking Baez out on four pitches. Stephenson gave up one hit.

His roommate, Wahoos pitcher Jon Moscot, said Stephenson didn’t sleep the night before flying out to Sunday’s game.

“He was estatic about it and told me he wanted to see how hard he could throw it,” Moscot said. “We all know about Baez. That’s a great matchup for Stephenson.”

Back in Pensacola, the game unraveled for the Wahoos in the seventh inning when Montgomery first baseman Cameron Seitzer hit a grand slam and then the very next batter, third baseman Richie Shaffer, followed up with a solo homer over the left field wall. The Biscuits all of a sudden changed a 3-2 lead to an 8-2 game.

The good news in Lively’s bid for his first victory at the Double-A level, he struck out a season-high nine batters with the Wahoos in five innings of work. The bad news: the Biscuits Ryan Brett and Jeff Hager hit back-to-back solo shots over the leftfield wall to put Montgomery ahead, 3-1, in the fifth inning.

Lively, who took the loss and now is 0-3, did retake the lead in strikeouts in minor league baseball with 131 Ks. He surpassed Single-A Visalia Rawhide pitcher Aaron Blair, who has 125.

Wahoos Manager Delino DeShields said he hopes Winker and Stephenson and the other Pensacola ballplayers continue to improve after the games they played Sunday.

“I hope they benefit from their experiences and are better players next time around,” he said. “People’s expectations were a little higher than mine. I knew there would be ups and downs coming in.”

The finale of the five-game series with Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate the Montgomery Biscuits gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Monday. RHP Mikey O’Brien (3-3, 3.86) takes the mound for the Wahoos and is scheduled to be opposed by the Biscuits RHP Jeremy Hellickson, who is rehabbing from arthroscopic surgery on his throwing elbow.

by Tommy Thrall

Comments

One Response to “Montgomery Tops Pensacola 12-2”

  1. Bob's Brother on July 14th, 2014 7:57 pm

    After Lively’s performance on the mound, the Biscuits should have been on the ropes. Not so… they rallied on lesser pitching… taking nothing away from their hitting, they just beat us like a TAMA drum.

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