Jacksonville Tops The Blue Wahoos 6-2

July 2, 2015

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos welcomed a new slugger to its lineup Wednesday—right fielder Juan Duran.

Duran, who is Pensacola’s single-season home run holder with 17 last season, hit a bullet for a single to centerfield in the fourth inning to drive in Blue Wahoos left fielder Jesse Winker. He went 2-3 on the night, walked and scored. He also knocked a two-out double off the right field wall in the ninth.

The Jacksonville Suns, though, took the lead for the Golden Skillet trophy beating Pensacola, 6-2, in front of 4,649 fans at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. The trophy goes annually to the series winner, which Jacksonville now leads, 6-5.

Duran said his wrist felt fine after returning from injury rehab with the Arizona League Reds. There, the outfielder went 9-23 and hit .391 with two home runs and nine RBIs in seven games.

“I felt great,” he said. “Nothing was hurting. I just do my best every time I play.”

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly was happy to see Duran’s bat in the middle of the lineup, after he hit .243 with 17 home runs and 51 RBIs in 2014.

“Every time he steps to the plate you stop to watch because he has a chance to hit it out of the ballpark,” Kelly said. “We haven’t had that in the middle of the lineup all year.”

Wandy Peralta entered the game 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA against the Suns, even throwing six scoreless innings May 15 against the team. However, Jacksonville scored five runs in the first inning off the southpaw on four singles and a triple by Suns right fielder Carlos Lopez, who has now gotten a hit in 24 of his last 27 games.

Kelly said a few ball and strike calls hurt Peralta’s focus.

“He had the ball up and didn’t get a couple of calls from the umpire which irritated him,” Kelly said.

The Pensacola bullpen came in and shut down the Jacksonville offensive burst. Jacob Johnson threw 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, two walks and striking out three.

Zack Weiss came in in the ninth Wednesday and struck out two Suns. He has now faced 20 batters in his last five games and struck out 11.

“Johnson really saved our bullpen,” Kelly said. “That was huge.”

Kelly also liked what he saw in Weiss, who retired the Suns 1-2-3. He has now thrown seven scoreless innings in his last five relief appearances.

“That’s what we anticipated when he first got here,” Kelly said. “He has straightened things out.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News