Blue Wahoos Win On 11th Inning Homer

May 11, 2016

Pensacola smacked five home runs, including Phillip Ervin’s second blast of the game in the 11th inning that propelled the Blue Wahoos to a 10-9 victory Tuesday over Chattanooga Lookouts at AT&T Park.

Ervin’s two homers were the first multi-homer game of the season for Pensacola and helped him climb into second in the Southern League with five dingers on the year.

Ervin, the MLB.com No. 10 prospect for the Cincinnati Reds, has been on a hitting terror. He now has five home runs and 11 RBIs in the last 12 games. During that time, he has scored in 11 of 12 games for 18 total and now is tied for first place in the Southern League with 24 runs scored on the season.

It was another wild game between Pensacola and Chattanooga. The Blue Wahoos scored 10 runs on 14 hits, while the Lookouts had nine runs on 18 hits. They got 17 hits in the team’s 12-3 win Monday night.

Despite the hot-hitting Chattanooga line up, Jackson Stephens gave up just two earned runs on eight hits and one walk, while striking out three. Stephens had Lookout players on base all night and could have given up far more than two runs but he was able to pitch out of trouble.

Pensacola reliever Carlos Gonzalez picked up the win, his first of the season (1-0), by pitching the last three innings, allowing one hit, one unearned run and striking out four. He lowered his season ERA to 1.69.

Chattanooga sent the game into extra innings in the ninth inning when second baseman Ryan Walker singled and then stole his first base of the year. Walker scored to tie the game, 9-9, on a throwing error by Blue Wahoos catcher Joe Hudson when no one covered second base.

Pensacola pulled back to within a half game of the first place Biloxi Shuckers in the Southern League South Division. The Blue Wahoos are 19-13, while the Shuckers are 19-12, after losing 9-1 to the Jacksonville Suns Tuesday.

Pensacola scored four runs in the top of the fourth inning to go ahead, 4-0. DH Kyle Parker, who was playing in his fourth game, hit a solo homer to right center field to start the inning. It was his first homer of the season for the Blue Wahoos.

Then shortstop Calten Daal, extended his hitting streak to 10 games, with a single to right field that scored third baseman Eric Jagielo for a 2-0 Pensacola lead. Blue Wahoos left fielder Tony Renda followed with a two-out double that scored both first baseman Ray Chang and Daal to put the Blue Wahoos up, 4-0.

Chattanooga then got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth, when shortstop Leonardo Reginatto doubled to left field to score DH Mitch Garver. The second run that made the score, 4-2, came when third baseman T.J. White hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Reginatto.

In the top of the fifth inning, center fielder Phillip Ervin hit his fourth home run of the year to left field to give Pensacola a 5-2 lead.

Pensacola went ahead, 8-2, with three more runs in the top of the seventh. Blue Wahoos second baseman Alex Blandino hit his second home run of the year and then right fielder Brandon Dixon drove in two more runs on his third blast of the year.

The Lookouts first baseman D.J. Hicks pulled Chattanooga closer when he singled to centerfield to score center fielder Shannon Wilkerson to make the score, 8-3, in the bottom of the seventh.  Garver then doubled in left fielder Travis Harrison and Hicks to pull Chattanooga within 8-5. Reginatto singled to right field to score Garver with the final run of the inning that pulled the Lookouts within, 8-6.

Chattanooga then knotted the score, 8-8, when Daniel Palka hit a sacrifice fly to shortstop Daal that allowed second baseman Ryan Walker to score, 8-7. Hicks then doubled to drive in Wilkerson with the tying run, 8-8.

In the ninth inning, Dixon, who was 2-6, with a run scored and three RBIs, singled to center to score Ervin, making it a short-lived 9-8 game in favor of the Blue Wahoos.

Ervin, who went 2-5, with three runs scored and a walk, belted his second homer Tuesday when he lined a fly ball deep to left field, which ended up giving Pensacola the win.

Pensacola utility man Tony Renda, who played left field Tuesday, went 3-6 with two RBIs and run and stretched his hitting streak to nine games. He’s now hitting .315 for the Blue Wahoos this season, which is sixth best in the league.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News