Wahoos Win Fourth In A Row

July 12, 2015

Zack Weiss made sure he preserved the Pensacola Blue Wahoos one-run victory, 4-3, over the Montgomery Biscuits Saturday night.

Throwing his fastball in the mid-90s, Weiss earned his team leading ninth save in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038. It was the 18th sellout of the season and the 122 sold out game since the Blue Wahoos inaugural year in 2012.

Weiss entered the game in the eighth inning with runners on first and third and got a strikeout. On the very next play, right fielder Juan Duran stretched out and made a diving catch to rob Biscuits left fielder Tyler Goeddel of a hit.

Weiss said he likes the closer role that he’s assumed during the past four weeks. His fastball helped Pensacola win its fourth straight game and extended the Biscuits road losing streak to seven games.

“I enjoy pitching in the ninth inning,” he said. “That’s fun. Getting those last three outs and going to shake the catcher’s hand, give him a hug, that’s awesome. I really do enjoy that.”

Weiss now has 20 strikeouts in 14 innings pitched in his last 12 relief appearances.

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said both Weiss and Duran saved the day for the Blue Wahoos.

“(Duran) saved the ball game with that catch,” Kelly said. “It was a tremendous play in the eighth inning.”

Kelly added that Weiss, who he first coached in Billings, also did well. “We put him in with the tying run on third in the eighth inning. Now he’s got to get five outs. That’s very special. There are not a lot of guys who can do that.”

Pensacola is now 9-7 and tied for first place in the Southern League Southern Division in the second half. They are 34-50 overall this season.

It’s the first time since 2012 that Pensacola has been in first place this late in a half. They were last in first place July 22, 2012. Montgomery fell to 8-7 in the second half and is 42-41 on the year.

Pensacola took the lead, 3-2, in the fifth inning when left fielder Jesse Winker grounded a single to right field to score catcher Yovan Gonzalez. Gonzalez tied the game, 2-2, when he singled to center to score second baseman Juan Perez, who doubled to lead off the inning.

The Blue Wahoos tacked on what ended up being the game-winning run in the seventh when shortstop Zach Vincej lined a single to center to score center fielder Beau Amaral to put Pensacola ahead, 4-2.

Montgomery cut the lead to 4-3 when first baseman Jake Bauers smacked a liner to the left-center gap to score right fielder Johnny Field Jr. in the eighth inning before Weiss came in and shut the Biscuits down.

Pensacola starter Wandy Peralta went six innings, which was his longest start since going 6.2 inning against the Mobile BayBears June 17. Peralta rebounded from two bad starts, leaving the game with a 3-2 lead. He scattered eight hits, walked two and struck out four Montgomery batters.

In his previous two starts, Peralta allowed 10 runs on 13 hits and two walks in 5.1 innings of work for a 16.88 ERA.

Winker went 1-4 with two RBIs Saturday. He’s now 3-10 with a home run, six RBIs, two runs scored and two walks. He has 5 HR 29 RBI and hitting .271 on year. Winker is hitting .363 (20-55) in 16 games in the second half. He has multi-hit games in eight of his last 18 starts.

Comments

One Response to “Wahoos Win Fourth In A Row”

  1. well on July 12th, 2015 9:39 am

    Yahoo Wahoos

    Keep it up.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports