Blue Wahoos Win Third Straight Over Tennessee

May 10, 2015

Wandy Peralta usually needs a translator when speaking with the media.

Asked if he trusted his fellow Spanish-speaking catcher, Yovan Gonzalez, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos left hander gave his answer in English. “Yes, a lot.”

The battery mates stole the show Saturday as Pensacola won its third in a row—it’s longest win streak since July 22-25 last season—in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.

Pensacola beat the Tennessee Smokies, 5-1, to also win the six-game series, 4-2. It was the first series the Blue Wahoos have taken this season, too.

Peralta gave up eight runs in two innings in his last start against the Jackson Generals. This time, Peralta got stingy. He gave up just one run in seven innings on four hits and four strike outs. He improved to 2-3 with a 4.85 ERA.

Meanwhile, Pensacola hitters backed him up with five runs, including a solo homer deep over the left field fence by Gonzalez, who was activated off the disabled list Saturday. Gonzalez, who put Pensacola up 4-1, went 2-4 on the night after hurting his back so much he couldn’t even swing a bat.

“My back was so sore I couldn’t even swing,” Gonzalez said. “In a game, I couldn’t throw the bat at the ball.”

Did he feel any pain on his long home run? “No, but the ball did,” Gonzalez said.

Pensacola Manager Pat Kelly said jokingly that he doesn’t remember seeing Gonzalez hit a dinger in his career. He actually has 11, including one last year for the High-A Bakersfield Blaze that Kelly managed.

“Wandy is very emotional out there and Yovan does a great job of keeping him calm,” Kelly said. “Their communication is better because of their language. (Gonzalez) caught him a lot in Bakersfield.”

Pensacola got Peralta runs right off the bat, when they went ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Kyle Waldrop lashed a two-out triple into the right field corner that scored Jesse Winker, who had doubled, and Marquez Smith, who earned a walk.

Another run came across in the third when Beau Amaral doubled in Ray Chang, who had doubled to make it, 3-0, after two innings. Gonzalez then homered and Pensacola added an insurance run in the eighth inning when Winker scored his second run of the game on a Chang sacrifice fly to right field that made the score, 5-1.

Kelly said he was not surprised by the Blue Wahoos (11-19) performance in the series.

The Smokies hitters, who entered the series leading the league in hitting, batted just .201 against Pensacola pitching. Smokies star hitters catcher Kyle Schwarber, who bats third, went 2-11 and is batting .325 on the season. Meanwhile, first baseman Dan Vogelbach was 3-16 and drove in three runs and is now batting .330.

“This is what we are capable of doing,” Kelly said. “Getting those two-out base hits really makes a difference. It’s nice to see the players with some confidence. They really played great all series.”

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports