Wahoos Move Into First Place

August 27, 2015

Cody Reed held the Mississippi Braves to one run and struck out eight in six innings of work as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos won, 3-1, Wednesday night to move into first place in the second half of South Division play in the Southern League.

Wednesday night, Reed showed the 4,201 Blue Wahoos fans at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium what he’s made of. In the battle to make the playoffs, Reed retired nine Mississippi Braves in a row at one point.

On the road, Reed has a 3-0 record and 0.41 earned-run average. At home? Reed was 0-2, lasting just 7.2 innings with an 11.74 ERA.

Pensacola improved to 33-26 in the second half and sole possession of first place, while Mississippi fell to 32-26.

Reed said he knew he lacked his usual good stuff but wasn’t about to let the Braves have a big inning. He struggled early throwing 60 pitches over the first three innings.

“It wasn’t my sharpest day but I got through six innings,” said Reed, who came to Pensacola from the Kansas City organization in a trade for the Cincinnati Reds ace Johnny Cueto. “You just got to work through it. I love having that pressure of being the guy they give the ball to.”

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly, who turns 60 Thursday, said Reed’s six innings was exactly what the Blue Wahoos needed Wednesday against Mississippi. Reed improved to 4-2 with a 3.03 ERA.

“I had more guys in turf shoes than cleats tonight,” he said. “I love (Reed’s) stuff. He has a plus fastball with a plus slider. He really competes. He was upset he gave up one run.”

Pensacola scored first in the fourth inning when left fielder Jesse Winker walked and scored on right fielder Juan Duran’s fielder choice to go up, 1-0.

The Blue Wahoos added another in the next inning when Kyle Skipworth hit a shot to right field that was dropped for an error. He scored on Winker’s ground out to the first baseman for a 2-0 Pensacola lead.

But back-to-back doubles by Mississippi’s Keven Ahrens and Rio Ruiz brought the Braves within one run at, 2-1.

Pensacola, though, added an insurance run in the eighth inning to go up, 3-1, when shortstop Alex Blandino hit a rocket to centerfield for a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Marquez Smith.

Kelly said he’s glad to be in the hunt for a playoff spot with 11 games left in the season. The latest Pensacola has had sole possession of first place was July 22, 2012 in its first season.

“If you had told me in April or May that we would be here I would have told you that you were crazy,” Kelly said. “This is great. It’s nice being here at this point. We just gotta keep going.”

Comments

One Response to “Wahoos Move Into First Place”

  1. Redman on August 27th, 2015 1:17 pm

    Didn”t know Clark Kent pitched for Wahoos . LOL !

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