Blue Wahoos Sweep The Jumbo Shrimp

April 22, 2017

Pensacola Blue Wahoos starting pitcher Austin Ross and Jacksonville starting pitcher Chris Mazza dueled to a 0-0 tie for seven innings.

But in the eighth the Blue Wahoos put up two runs on a walk, error and sacrifice fly and wild pitch to sweep the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in the five-game series Friday in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly compared the game to a tennis match.

“A game like that the first team that makes a mistake gets beat,” he said. “If you’re the one to break the serve, you got a chance to win.”

It’s not often teams sweep five-game series. Last season, Pensacola swept the Birmingham Barons on the road to end the season and in 2015 it swept the Montgomery Biscuits at home.

The Blue Wahoos have now won seven straight games and own the best record in the Southern League at 12-3. It’s the best start since the franchise began in 2012.

This year in three starts for the Cincinnati Reds, the 28-year-old Ross is 2-0 with an 0.86 ERA. In 21 innings, he has allowed 10 hits, two earned runs, walked seven and struck out 13. Friday night, he pitched seven scoreless innings to up his scoreless inning streak to 18 innings.

He gave up just three hits, three walks and struck out seven Jumbo Shrimp hitters.

“Good pitches are good pitches,” the 28-year-old Ross said. “It’s all about just executing your pitches. It was fun going back and forth like that (with Mazza). With the flow of a game like that, sometimes guys just feed off each other. Each run matters.”

Fortunately for the Blue Wahoos, they scored first when left fielder Leon Landry walked and advanced to third when Joe Hudson came into pinch hit and bunted to Jacksonville third baseman Brian Anderson, who overthrew first baseman Taylor Ard.

With runners on second and third and no outs, Pensacola shortstop Blake Trahan hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right center to score Landry and put the Blue Wahoos up, 1-0. Catcher Devin Mesoraco then hit a line drive shot that was too hot for the pitcher to handle for a single and Hudson moved to third base where he scored on a wild pitch by Jacksonville reliever Tyler Higgins to give the Blue Wahoos ahead, 2-0.

Before the eighth inning, the highlight of the game was when right fielder Aristides Aquino chased down a single by Jacksonville right fielder John Norwood in the second inning deep in the outfield and then gunned a throw to Trahan to get Norwood out.

“That play changed the inning and changed the game,” Ross said. “It could have been first and second with no outs.”

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