Blue Wahoos Win 11th Straight Home Game

July 24, 2015

In his last three starts — all wins — Pensacola Blue Wahoos right-hander Daniel Wright has used his mix of four pitches to keep the opposing batters off balance.

Wright won his third straight start over the Biloxi Shuckers, 2-1, Thursday in front of 4,533 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.

Pensacola narrowly escaped when second baseman Juan Perez ended the game on a perfect one-hop relay throw from shallow center field to catcher Kyle Skipworth to nail Biloxi pinch runner Brent Suter, who stumbled rounding third base.

The Pensacola dugout went from “a low to high moment really quick,” said Wright, who improved to 7-7 with a 4.32 ERA.

The Blue Wahoos won its fourth straight game and 11th straight home game. Pensacola improved to 17-10 (42-53) and sole possession of first place in the Southern League South Division. For the first time in franchise history since 2012, Pensacola improved to seven games above .500.

Mobile BayBears defeated the Mississippi Braves Thursday to propel the Blue Wahoos into first.

With his dad, Paul, and Little League manager Steve Knott traveling from Memphis to look on, Wright threw eight innings, allowing just one run on four hits with a walk and struck out five. After allowing Biloxi’s only run in the sixth when center fielder Michael Reed doubled in third baseman Nate Orf to cut Pensacola’s lead, 2-1, Wright retired the next seven hitters.

Wright has a 1.17 ERA, allowing one run in each of his last three starts covering 23 innings. In five of his last six starts, Wright has allowed one run or less. His second half ERA is 1.74, giving up eight earned runs in 41.3 innings.

He said having his dad and coach look on was no distraction.

“I waved to them before the game but once the game starts, you’re just thinking about the next pitch,” Wright said. “As the game went on, I got a little bit sharper.”

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said he was worried Wright would run out of gas after scoring from first base in the fifth inning on Bryson Smith’s triple over the center fielder’s head. His score put Pensacola up, 2-1.

The Blue Wahoos went up, 1-0, in the fourth inning when right fielder Juan Duran singled in center fielder Bryson Smith.

“Daniel (Wright) was outstanding again,” Kelly said. “That’s the way he threw for me in Bakersfield.”

Last year, Wright led the Cincinnati Reds’ minor league pitchers with 14 wins (first) and 141 strikeouts (second) pitching for Low-A Dayton Dragons and High-A Bakersfield Blaze.

Bryson Smith went 2-3 with a triple, scored a run and drove in another. Smith is now hitting .381 (8-21) with one homer and three RBIs in six games with Pensacola.

Pensacola shortstop Zach Vincej also went 2-3 and has hits in 14 of his last 15 games. He’s batting 22-53 or .415 during that span. He’s hitting .362 in the second half and has raised his season average to .267.

The third game of the five-game series is scheduled at 6:35 p.m. Friday with the Milwaukee Brewers Double-A affiliate Biloxi Shuckers. RHP Tim Adleman (6-7, 2.36) takes the mound for the Wahoos and is scheduled to be opposed by Shuckers RHP Tyler Wagner (6-5, 2.53).

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News