Wahoos Sweep Doubleheader With Tennessee

August 13, 2016

Pensacola second baseman Alex Blandino slid head first into home and appeared to be out easily. But Blandino lifted his left arm over the tag by the catcher and slapped home plate to give the Blue Wahoos another walk-off win in the first game of a doubleheader.

With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Pensacola right fielder Sebastian Elizalde slapped a line drive into short right field. It scored center fielder Brandon Dixon with the tying run and Blandino with the winning run to give Pensacola a 4-3 victory over the Tennessee Smokies. Elizalde’s hit extended the Blue Wahoos franchise record to 10 walk-offs this season.

Elizalde said he didn’t know what pitch was thrown to him on his walk-off single. He went 4-9 in the doubleheader and his season batting average has rebounded to .263.

“I was ready to hit the ball,” Elizalde said. “Everything over the plate, I’m going to swing.”

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly was happy to see Elizalde getting the clutch hit after batting .172 last month—his lowest average for a month this season.

“He had a tough month of July,” Kelly said. “He’s been one of our better hitters all year. It’s nice to see him back on track.”

In the second game at Blue Wahoos Stadium, Pensacola jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when shortstop Zach Vincej rounded the bases on a deep fly ball in the right center gap that Tennessee right fielder Ian Happ chased down but then dropped while on the run. Happ compounded his drop with a throwing error that allowed Blandino, left fielder Phillip Ervin and Vincej to all score on the play.

Pensacola catcher Kyle Skipworth added a two-run homer to left field and the Blue Wahoos ended up sweeping Friday’s doubleheader with an 8-0 victory over Tennessee.

The Blue Wahoos are now 23-24 in the second half, while the Smokies are 19-27.

Meanwhile, in the first game Tennessee went back on top, 3-2, in the sixth inning when first baseman Victor Caratini hit a two-run rocket into the Hill Kelly Dodge berm in right field that also scored second baseman Happ.

The Smokies left two runners on base in the fifth through eighth innings and stranded pinch hitter Daniel Lockhart on second base after he hit a leadoff double in the ninth inning.

Pensacola picked up where the game ended Thursday with two on and two outs in the bottom of the second inning before rain drowned out the opener of the five-game series. Pitcher Tyler Mahle, who pitched two perfect innings, had just bounced a groundball down the first base line into right field for his second RBI of the season when Vincej came around to score and give Pensacola a 1-0 lead.

When the game resumed Friday the Blue Wahoos lead was short lived. Tennessee left fielder Kelly Dugan smashed a first pitch fastball from Pensacola reliever Barrett Astin just left of dead center to tie the game, 1-1, in the top of the third inning.

Pensacola’s Astin made up for allowing the homer with a single past the shortstop, who was playing on the grass, to drive in Ervin from third to put the Blue Wahoos ahead, 2-1, in the bottom of the fourth inning. It was Astin’s first career hit and RBI.

Blue Wahoos reliever Kyle McMyne pitched two scoreless innings to improve his record to 4-3 this season. McMyne has pitched 9.1 scoreless innings in his last seven relief appearances.

“That guy was our closer last year,” Kelly said. “He has had his struggles early on. But that 94 mph sinker is a really good pitch.”

In the second game, Pensacola starting pitcher Jackson Stephens continued to look like a Southern League All-Star. He worked his first complete game shutout, although it was seven innings because of the doubleheader.  Stephens also set a new career-high with 10 strikeouts and is now third in the Southern League with 115 strikeouts on the season. He improved his record to 8-10 and lowering his ERA to 3.01.

Stephens has thrown seven innings in each of his past three starts allowing just two runs on 15 hits, two walks, while striking out 22. His last out Friday was a strikeout of Tennessee’s second baseman Lockhart.

“It was like icing on the cake when I got that out,” Stephens said. “I felt like he was the last batter I would face. I didn’t care if it was a strikeout, fly out or ground out. I just wanted to get him out.”

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