Wahoos Tie Series With Tennessee Smokies

April 10, 2017

Gabriel Guerrero always seemed to hit well against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos when he played for the Mobile BayBears.

Now, Guerrero plays for Pensacola and Sunday he had a walk-off single as the Blue Wahoos came from three runs down to defeat the Tennessee Smokies, 4-3, in front of the fourth straight sellout of 5,038 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

Guerrero went 3-5 at the plate, hitting a double off the left field wall on one hop and scoring Pensacola’s second run in the eighth and then hitting a bloop single to left that drove in Pensacola second baseman Josh VanMeter in the ninth.

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly, who coached Gabriel’s uncle Vladimir, said after the way Guerrero feasted on Blue Wahoos pitching in the past, he’s happy to have claimed him off waivers and have him play for his team this season.

“He loves hitting in this park,” Kelly said. “We figured we should get him for 70 games instead of just 10.”

Guerrero couldn’t stop smiling after the game. With runners on first and third, Tennessee elected to pitch to him. He was looking for a fastball but hit a slider for the game-winning hit, for Pensacola’s first walk-off this season. Last year, the team had a record 12 walk-offs.

“I always hit well here, I don’t know why,” Guerrero said. “It’s always exciting to have a walk-off run. It was a good win for the team. We kept fighting. We kept doing our job. We knew something was going to fall.”

Guerrero admitted he talks regularly to his uncle, who played 16 years in the Major Leagues and won the American League MVP in 2004 when he hit 39 home runs, drove in 126 RBIs and batted .337 for the California Angels.

“He’s my mentor. He’s my leader,” the 23-year-old Guerrero said. “I respect my uncle. It’s always good to have a guy around like him to talk to. I talk to him a lot.”

The Smokies bad luck in Pensacola continued. The Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate hasn’t won a series in Pensacola since 2012 — the longest drought for Tennessee in the Southern League.

This time, Pensacola catcher Adrian Nieto pulled the Blue Wahoos within, 3-2, in the eighth inning when he lined a single to center that scored both first baseman Eric Jagielo, who was hit by a pitch, and left fielder Gabriel Guerrero, who doubled.

Nieto said the key was to stop thinking about his swing when he was up to bat.

“My first couple at bats, I was thinking about my mechanics,” he said. “I told myself, ‘Get ready. Be on time. See the ball and hit it. Put the barrel on it.”

Nieto was also involved with an odd play in the fifth inning. Pensacola shortstop Alex Blandino hit a chopper to third base with the bases loaded and the Smokies turned a double play. It appeared that Nieto had scored from third to pull Pensacola within, 3-1.

However, the umpires ruled that pinch hitter Angelo Gumbs interfered with the double play on his slide into second base. The umpires took the Blue Wahoos run off the board, putting Nieto back on third base and center fielder Brian O’Grady back on second.

Kelly got thrown out for the first time this season arguing the call.

To Kelly, one of the key’s to Pensacola’s comeback victory to tie the series, 2-2, and have a chance to win the series at 6:35 p.m. Monday, is the bullpen. Its four relievers — Alex Powers, Domingo Tapia, Ariel Hernandez and Ismael Guillon — have combined to pitch five shutout innings and strike out six.

“The biggest thing is the bullpen throwing those scoreless innings that kept us in the game,” Kelly said. “We had one bad inning (Saturday) but other than that the bullpen has been fantastic. It’s good having those guys backing up our starters.”

The Blue Wahoos relievers have allowed just three runs in 14.1 innings, not counting allowing five runs in one inning to Tennessee in Saturday’s game.

Tennessee left fielder Charcer Burks, who has feasted on Pensacola pitching batting .333 in four games, started the game by creaming a pitch to left field out of the park.

The Smokies then went up, 2-0, in the first inning when Blue Wahoos’ Nieto threw to second base trying to catch Tennessee second baseman Davis Bote stealing. But the ball glanced off Pensacola’s Blandino’s glove, allowing Tennessee third baseman Jason Vosler to score.

Tennessee added another run in the second inning when centerfielder Trey Martin walked, stole second base, advanced to third on a groundout and then scored on pitcher Preston Martin’s groundout to first base for a 3-0 lead.

Meanwhile, in his Double-A debut, Tennessee right-hander Preston Morrison picked up where he left off in A ball last season. He dominated.

Morrison, who Baseball America pegged as the 29th best prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization, had a no-hitter until Aristides Aquino hit an infield single to third base. He pitched five scoreless innings, allowing two hits, walking four and striking out three.

Morrison moved up to the Smokies this season after going 13-5 with a 1.92 ERA in 26 starts and 150.1 innings in two seasons in the minors.

“We kept saying, something’s going to fall in,” Kelly said. “We said there has got to be a hole out there somewhere. If I remember, it’s the Wahoo way.”

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