Wahoos Beat The B’ham Barons

August 8, 2015

You know things are going right for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos when your eighth and ninth hitters each jack solo homers over the left field wall and score three of the team’s five runs.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos designated hitter Sean Buckley scored twice on a solo home run and double and center fielder Beau Amaral scored once, smashing a solo shot and hitting a sharp grounder to third that scored Buckley.

The Blue Wahoos opened the five-game series Friday with the Birmingham Barons with a 5-3 victory in front of 4,422 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.

Buckley joked that he received a new shipment Friday of 34-inch, 32-ounce bats that helped him hit his second homer of the season.

“I got some new bats and think they were the key,” the 6-foot-3 Buckley said. “The pitcher (Tyler Danish) throws a lot of sinkers. I was looking for a sinker and put a good swing on it.”

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said Buckley, the eighth hitter, and Amaral, the ninth hitter, came through for the Blue Wahoos Friday.

Buckley went 3-4 with two runs, a homer, a double and one RBI. Meanwhile, Amaral was 1-4 with the homer for an RBI and drove in Buckley in the eighth on a hard-hit grounder to Birmingham third baseman Nicky Delmonico that he could not corral.

“Buckley’s not your typical eight hitter,” Kelly said. “He hit three balls on the nose.”

The Blue Wahoos, who hit five extra base hits Friday, have a Southern League leading 112 extra base hits since July 1.

Pensacola had taken the lead, 4-3, in the seventh inning when left fielder Jesse Winker and first baseman Marquez Smith smacked back-to-back, two-out doubles. It put the Blue Wahoos ahead for the first time in the game.

Winker, who went 2-2 with a run scored and two walks, bounced his double off the left center wall. Smith then hit a chopper down the third base line that rolled into the left field corner.

Birmingham had gone back on top, 3-2, in the fifth inning when left fielder Marcus Lemon hit a bloop double to shallow left field just inside the foul line and scored on third baseman Nicky Delmonico’s ground out.

The Blue Wahoos also enjoyed seven strong innings from Daniel Wright who gave up three runs on five hits and struck out seven in seven innings. He improved to 8-8 with a 4.62 ERA.

Pensacola relievers Patrick Schuster and Zack Weiss ended the game with each striking out the side in their one innings of relief. Weiss now has a team-leading 16 saves and 45 strikeouts in 36.1 innings.

Kelly praised his starter for giving up just three runs in seven innings, including two in the first, and working out of a jam when he walked the first two batters who made it to second and third before Pensacola ended the threat.

“The whole key was him going seven innings and giving up three runs,” Kelly said.

Pensacola moved into just a half-game back of Southern League South Division second half leader the Mobile BayBears at 24-17 (49-60). Mobile is 24-16 in the second half.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports