Ervin Crushes Game Winning Homer For The Wahoos

August 24, 2016

Pensacola Blue Wahoos left fielder Phillip Ervin drove in two runs with a key line drive single to center field and a game-winning home run that he crushed high above the 400-foot sign in dead center.

Ervin, a first round draft pick in 2013 by the Cincinnati Reds, certainly looked like the player the Major League club projected him to be Tuesday, going 3-4 with two runs scored in the, 3-2, victory over the Mobile BayBears at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

On a 2-0 pitch, Ervin got all of the ball in the bottom of the eighth inning. The leadoff homer was the first ball hit out the park by Pensacola since Aug. 13.

“That was very impressive,” Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said, marveling at Ervin’s power. “He’s being patient. When he’s patient like that he gets good hits.”

Ervin, the Reds No. 16 prospect, now has 12 homers and 39 RBIs on the season. He also has 33 stolen bases, making him the first minor leaguer in the organization to have back-to-back double digit home runs and 30-plus steals in a season since Henry Rodriguez did it in the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Last season, Ervin knocked 14 homers and 71 RBIs for High-A Daytona Tortugas and Pensacola.

“It’s a great combo,” Kelly said of Ervin’s power and speed. “He’s got great tools. That’s why he was a No. 1 draft choice.”

The Blue Wahoos have now won the first two games of the five-game series over rival Mobile. Combined with the Mississippi Braves, 2-0, loss to the Biloxi Shuckers Tuesday, Pensacola is now 3.5 games behind division leader Mississippi at 30-27. The Braves are 33-23 in the second half.

“We’re peaking at the right time,” Kelly said with 13 games left in the 2016 season. “We’re hitting on all cylinders right now.”

The Blue Wahoos struck in the sixth inning, tying the game, 2-2, when center fielder Jeff Gelalich hit a two out single to score Ervin from third. Ervin had singled to drive in shortstop Alex Blandino earlier in the inning that pulled Pensacola within, 2-1.

Pensacola starter Jackson Stephens pitched out of two bases loaded jams in the first three innings, allowing just one run when he hit Mobile center fielder Evan Marzilli with a pitch that scored left fielder Rudy Flores from third in the second inning.

In the fourth inning, Mobile again put runners at the corners with two outs but Stephens got Mobile first baseman and slugger Kevin Cron to hit a pop foul to first base to end the inning.

Mobile had six runners in scoring position in four straight innings but Stephens was able to get out of the innings unscathed in a gutty performance. Stephens threw 91 pitches in five innings, allowing one unearned run, giving up seven hits, walking two and striking out four.

In all Mobile, was 2-10 with runners in scoring position Tuesday and left 14 runners on base.

“He battled and kept us in the game,” Kelly said. “A couple of those innings could have gotten really ugly. But he pitches with a chip on his shoulder. Nothing’s ever been handed to him. He’s had to earn it. That’s the way you have to be.”

The game stayed, 1-0, Mobile until the sixth inning when BayBears second baseman Jamie Westbrook hit a solo homer just over the left field fence for his third of the year to put his team up, 2-0. It was also the Mobile team’s 99th homer this season, which leads the Southern League.

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