Wahoos Top Suns

May 24, 2016

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos won the final game of its five-game series against the Jacksonville Suns by scoring the winning run in the 10th inning when center fielder Phillip Ervin scored on a fielder’s choice by shortstop Calten Daal.

Pensacola clung to the, 5-4, victory over the Suns Monday at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville on a game-ending double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Jacksonville third baseman James Roberts flew out to Blue Wahoos right fielder Brandon Dixon. Dixon then gunned the ball to Pensacola first baseman Kyle Parker, who fired it to Daal covering second base to double up Jacksonville’s Moises Sierra and end the game.

Although Jacksonville won the series, 3-2, the Blue Wahoos kept pace with the Biloxi Shuckers in the Southern League South Division. Despite going, 6-6, in its last 12 games, Pensacola is now 26-19 this season and remains in second place, just a half game behind the Shuckers.

Biloxi lost, 3-2, to the Tennessee Smokies in 12 innings Monday night to fall to 26-18 on the year.

Pensacola’s Daal, who was 2-5 with three RBIs on two doubles, doubled to center field in the eighth inning to drive in first baseman Kyle Parker. Parker scored from second, after stealing his first base of the season, to put the Blue Wahoos up, 4-3.

Daal now has four RBIs on the season and is batting .356 in 20 games with Pensacola.

However, Jacksonville came back to tie the score, 4-4, in the bottom of the eighth to send the game to extra innings. Jacksonville first baseman Chris Curley singled to center field to score Suns left fielder Austin Dean.

Blue Wahoos southpaw Amir Garrett, the Cincinnati Reds No. 3 prospect, did not get the decision but pitched another fabulous game. Garrett is 3-3 with a 1.49 earned-run average this season. He worked a season high 6.2 innings and gave up three runs, one earned on four hits, and two walks.

Garrett struck out seven Jacksonville batters and now has 54 on the season, which ties him for third in the Southern League.

The Blue Wahoos tied the game, 3-3, in the top of the fifth when Ervin hit a two-out single to left field to drive in Tony Renda, who had hit his 13th double of the season to left. Renda, who was playing third base Monday, got one hit in each of the last four games against Jacksonville. He was 4-18 with three runs scored and three RBIs in the series and is batting .281 this season.

Ervin who is hitting .121 this year with runners in scoring position now is tied with Brandon Dixon with 17 RBIs this season for Pensacola.

In the second inning, Pensacola jumped to a 2-0 lead. Pensacola’s Daal doubled to left field to score Parker, who led off the inning with a walk. Blue Wahoos catcher Chad Wallach then smacked a sacrifice fly that drove in Dixon for the second run of the inning.

But Jacksonville came back in the bottom of the inning to score three runs and take the lead. The Suns loaded the bases with two outs when pitcher Patrick Johnson singled on a ground ball to Daal, who threw the ball away. That allowed both first baseman Chris Curley and third baseman James Roberts to score tying the game, 2-2. Wallach then allowed a pass ball on strike out by Suns second baseman Yefri Perez, and center field Jeremias Pineda crossed the plate to put Jacksonville up, 3-2.

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