Wahoos Drop Playoff Game

September 9, 2016

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos gave up four runs in the third inning to the Mississippi Braves and couldn’t recover Thursday.

Mississippi third baseman Carlos Franco hit a three-run homer in the third inning and 6-foot-6 right-hander Patrick Weigel handcuffed the Pensacola hitters throwing seven scoreless innings to give the Braves a 5-0 win Thursday in front of 3,866 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

Mississippi tied the Southern League South Division series, 1-1, and now plays the next two games at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday at Trustmark Park. If Game 5 is needed, it will be played at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly expressed confidence in his team, despite the split at home. The Blue Wahoos won both series at Mississippi, going 7-3.

“Obviously, we wanted to win two here,” Kelly said. “It’s a best of three series now. It’s nice to know we can come back for game five.”

Franco lifted a high deep fly ball into Hill-Kelly Dodge Hill in right field with one out in the third inning to score three runs and put Mississippi on top, 5-0. It was his fifth homer this year.

Pensacola seemed jinxed to start the third inning. Braves center fielder Mallex Smith bunted down the first base line and Pensacola pitcher Jackson Stephens fielded and threw to first base hitting Pensacola first baseman Ray Chang right between the eyes.

Then Braves second baseman Levi Hyams hit a ball that deflected off of Stephens’ glove and reached first. Mississippi slugging left fielder Dustin Peterson smacked a hard liner into center field to score Smith to put the Braves up, 2-0. Franco finished the inning off with the fourth straight hit off of Stephens.

Stephens has been inconsistent in his last five starts. He’s allowed 16 runs in his last 21.1 innings pitched, which is a 6.75 ERA. In the second game of the playoffs, he pitched five innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and a walk, while striking out five.

Meanwhile, Pensacola’s Evan Mitchell pitched three scoreless innings of relief and now has thrown 15.2 scoreless innings. He allowed one hit, one walk and struck out one. Kyle McMyne retired the Braves in order in the ninth.

Kelly said it has been fun watching Mitchell gain confidence on the mound.

“It’s fun to see,” Kelly said. “He’s got great stuff. He has a 94 mph sinker and what a scout told me was a man hole cover slider.”

But the story Thursday was really 22-year-old Weigel who was making just his fourth start in Double-A. The right-hander pitched a gem throwing seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, walking two and striking out eight.

Pensacola was unable to figure out the Braves’ Weigel, who allowed one Blue Wahoos runner to third base and one to second base.  Weigel was called up to Mississippi on Aug. 19 from the Low-A Rome Braves where he was 10-4 with a 2.51 ERA.

“Weigel was good,” Kelly said. “He had all four pitches working. He was very impressive. We had a report on him that if you got him into the stretch he was not very good. We just didn’t get him in the stretch too many times.”

In his last start on Sept. 1 against Biloxi, Weigel was sharp, too. He allowed one unearned run on two hits over 8.1 innings, while striking out four.

Mississippi jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Franco hit a leadoff single to left field. He scored easily from second base when Braves right fielder Connor Lien doubled over the head of Pensacola left fielder Phillip Ervin for a 1-0 lead.

Blue Wahoos leadoff hitter Alex Blandino and No. 3 hitter Sebastian Elizalde got five of the Blue Wahoos six hits Thursday. Blandino was 3-4 with a double, while Elizalde had two singles in four at bats.

In the North Division playoff, the Jackson Generals took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series against the Montgomery Biscuits with a 2-1 victory at home.


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