Wahoos Clinch Series Against Jackson

May 26, 2015

If you believe 11-year veteran minor leaguer Ray Chang, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos victory over the Jackson Generals was never in doubt.

Trailing 6-0 after four innings, the 31-year-old Chang and his teammates just had a feeling they weren’t going to lose.

With four runs in the eighth, Pensacola pulled out an improbable, 8-7, series clinching win over the Generals in front of 4,149 fans at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium on Memorial Day.

Kyle Skipworth scored on a wild pitch thrown by Jackson reliever Matt Anderson to score the winning run, after Ryan Wright had tied the game, 7-7, with a one-out, bases loaded double into the gap in right center.

“We looked at each other after (pitcher) Wandy (Peralta) got hurt and the game had a weird feeling to it,” said Chang, who went 2-4 with two singles and scored twice. “We just looked at each other and knew we were going to win this ball game. It was such a great feeling to come back from that deficit.”

Chang is now hitting .366 in May (15-41) for the Blue Wahoos and .321 this season to be among the Pensacola hitting leaders.

The win improved the Blue Wahoos to 20-25 on the season headed into a crucial 10-game road trip against Mississippi Braves and Mobile BayBears, who lead the Blue Wahoos in the Southern League South Division standings.

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said his team needed Monday’s victory after losing the past two games on late-inning heroics by Jackson. The Blue Wahoos scored four runs in the fourth to cut the lead and then four more in the eighth to win it.

“That’s why you play nine innings,” Kelly said. “Wandy gets the first two outs on four pitches and then loses it.”

In fact, Peralta ended up allowing four runs on three hits, two walks and an error in the first inning. The big hit came by left fielder Dario Pizzano who singled in Jordy Lara and D.J. Peterson.

However, in the top of the third inning Jackson center fielder Gabby Guerrero, who’s eighth inning single gave the Generals a, 6-5, win Sunday night, led off with a bullet off of Peralta’s left pitching hand. He threw some test pitches after a walk around the infield but Kelly called in reliever Layne Somsen.

Somsen pitched four innings giving up four hits, three walks and two runs, including a solo blast by Jabari Blash to left field to lead off the sixth inning that made the score, 7-4.

“(Peralta) felt like he could pitch but that’s a very valuable left arm,” Kelly said. “I didn’t feel like it was worth it.”

Chang was the instigator of getting shaving cream all over Wright in the post-game celebration when he walked off the field. Wright, who went 2-5 with a double and drove in three runs, has a nine game hitting streak. Wright is batting .325 (13-40) with eight RBIs two doubles.

Wright ended the Pensacola Blue Wahoos 0-22 hitless streak with the bases loaded Sunday and then got a double again Monday with the bases loaded for the Blue Wahoos, who are now 2-28.

“He has been so clutch all year,” Chang said.

Kelly said lucky for the Blue Wahoos the wind shifted around the sixth inning carrying Wright’s ball away from the Generals’ Guerrero in center and more to right toward Lara where it dropped in.

“If he drove the ball to right center with the wind blowing in we might not have scored,” Kelly said. “Guerrero was catching everything. But Lara didn’t have a good jump on it.”

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports