Wahoos Take Series Lead With 5-1 Win Over Mississippi

August 3, 2016

Pensacola catcher, turned first baseman, Chad Wallach continued his team’s power surge Tuesday belting the team’s fifth home run in three games at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

Wallach knocked a two out, two-run bomb to left field that ended up in Pensacola Bay and put the club ahead, 3-0, on their way to a 5-1 victory Tuesday over the Mississippi Braves, who are in first place in the South Division in the second half.

Pensacola has 76 home runs as a team, which is third in the Southern League and one behind Mississippi.

Wallach’s fifth homer of the season was his second in nine games and also brought home third baseman Taylor Sparks, who drew a two out walk.

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said Wallach’s homer was critical to give starting pitcher Jackson Stephens some breathing room. Stephens has taken the L in seven of his last 10 starts but that’s because the Blue Wahoos offense has averaged just 1.43 runs in those losses, getting shutout three times.

“He’s been that guy the last month or so who we haven’t been able to get runs for,” Kelly said. “We didn’t make it easy for him.”

Wallach said he was happy to contribute to Stephens’ first victory in five starts. Playing first base for the third time this season Tuesday night, instead of catching, he got on base all four times with a homer, single to left field and two walks.

“When he’s been pitching lately, we have not put up the runs to give him the wins,” Wallach said.

Pensacola also got offense out of right fielder Brandon Dixon, who hit his team-leading 14th home run in the second inning to give the Blue Wahoos a 1-0 lead. Before the homer, Dixon was 2-28 with one RBI and no extra base hits.

Mississippi shortstop Dansby Swanson, the 2015 No. 1 draft pick, led off the seventh inning with a triple when his opposite field fly ball landed just fair and rolled into the corner. The next batter left fielder Dustin Peterson grounded out on a chopper to first to allow Swanson to score, pulling the Braves within, 3-1.

In eighth inning, Pensacola center fielder Jeff Gelalich dove face first on a tailing fly ball to rob Mississippi catcher Willians Astudillo of a base hit.

In the bottom of the eighth, Pensacola second baseman Alex Blandino singled to center field with two outs to drive in two more runs for a 5-1 Blue Wahoos lead. Blandino extended his hitting streak to seven games by going 3-5. During his hitting streak, he’s batting .407 going 11-27.

“He and (hitting coach) Alex (Pelaez) have worked really hard in the cage and he’s starting to have success,” Kelly said. “He enjoys playing and wants to win.”

Meanwhile, Stephens improved to 7-10 on the year with a 3.27 ERA. The 21-year-old pitched seven innings, allowing one run on three hits and one walk, while striking out seven. Stephens retired 15 in a row before the Braves No. 1 prospect, Swanson, hit a triple.

Pensacola also got another strong relief outing from Alejandro Chacin, who slammed the door on Mississippi in the ninth by striking out both Swanson and Peterson, who leads nearly every major offensive category in the Southern League.

Pensacola, the first half Southern League South Division champion, moved into third place at 19-19 in the second half and are 60-48 overall. The Blue Wahoos trail first place Mississippi by three games after they fell to 22-16 in the South Division in the second half and are 56-51 on the season.

Head-to-head, Pensacola has a 9-4 record against the Braves this year.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News