Blue Wahoos Beat The Tennesee Smokies

May 6, 2015

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos had no hits through five innings, but finally unloaded on Tennessee Smokies starter Jeffry Antigua in the sixth.

Blue Wahoos first baseman Marquez Smith delivered the decisive two-run blow when he launched a deep fly ball to centerfield that popped out of the glove of a leaping Jacob Hannemann’s glove when he slammed into the wall.

Smith’s double scored second baseman Ryan Wright and left fielder Jesse Winker for a 4-2 lead that Pensacola held on to defeat the Tennessee Smokies, 4-3, in front of 4,306 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.

The win leaves Pensacola at 99 during its first four seasons at home and the Blue Wahoos are short just 9,152 away from 1 million during that same span.

Catcher Cam Maron broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single to the right center field gap in the top of the sixth inning. Ray Chang then singled to put runners at first and third with one out. Then Wright singled in Maron and Winker singled in Chang to tie the score at 2-2.

That set up Smith’s smash to left center that looked like it would leave the stadium for his first homer of the year. Instead, it was his first hit of the season at the Blue Wahoos ballpark. He was 0-15 in the first two homestands against the Biloxi Shuckers.

Smith said he just remained confident that hits would start falling for him. He was 1-4 Tuesday and is now batting .400 (10-25) in his past six games. His average has climbed from .182 to .246.

“I didn’t know if it was going out. I just hoped it would find grass somewhere,” Smith said. “I was hoping he wouldn’t catch it.”

No one was happier than Pensacola Manager Pat Kelly to see Smith double with two out. In the past two games, Pensacola has gone 5-7 with runners in scoring position after batting a Southern League low of .212 this season.

“We knew we were capable of doing it,” Kelly said. “We got in a rut in April. Now, we hope everything will fall in place.”

The Blue Wahoos reliever Ben Klimesh earned his team-leading fifth save of the season by striking out four of the seven batters he faced in the eighth and ninth. On the year, he has struck out 11 hitters in 10 innings.

“He was trying to throw his pitches through a brick wall,” Kelly said. “He is in much better control of his emotions and pitches. He threw a lot of 3-2 split-finger fastballs for strike outs.”

Meanwhile, starter Keyvius Sampson, the No. 9 prospect in the San Diego Padres organization last year, got his first win for Pensacola. He allowed five hits, one walk, two runs, zero earned and struck out four in six innings of work.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports