Blue Wahoos Drop Slugfest To Biscuits 10-8

July 2, 2017

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos beat the Montgomery Biscuits in 12 of the last 14 games at Blue Wahoos Stadium dating back to the 2014 season.

However, Montgomery finally got a W on the Blue Wahoos home field Saturday, 10-8, in a seesaw slugfest in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038. Pensacola had won the first three games of the six-game series.

Has Pensacola manager Pat Kelly seen a game with that much offense in the Southern League?

“Not in this league,” Kelly said. “That was a Pacific Coast League game right there.”

Blue Wahoos right fielder Aristides Aquino doubled to start the fifth inning and scored when catcher Chad Tromp hit a sizzling grounder down the line into right field, putting Pensacola ahead, 7-6. Left fielder Tyler Goeddel then hit a line drive off the left field wall on one hop for the third double of the inning, which scored Tromp for an, 8-6, lead.

However, Montgomery came right back in the sixth inning with two runs to tie it, 8-8, when second baseman Riley Unroe hit a line drive single into right field to drive in catcher Nick Ciuffo. Biscuits third baseman Grant Kaye then clobbered a single to center field to drive in shortstop Andrew Valezquez.

Montgomery first baseman Dalton Kelly then scored what would be the game-winning run in the seventh inning when he reached first base on a perfect bunt down the third base line and scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by DH Mac James that put the Biscuits on top, 9-8.

Kelly is playing in his first Double-A series after being called up Tuesday from High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs where he was hitting .305. The 22-year-old was 5-5 Saturday with his first Double-A home run, a two-run shot that he crushed to left field. He also had two doubles and scored three times.

Kelly has torn up Pensacola pitching, so far, going 10-17 (.588) with four doubles, four runs scored, one home run and four RBIs.

The game had four lead changes, a combined 18 runs and 28 hits, including 11 extra-base hits and five home runs. The teams have identical 4-5 records in the second half of the Southern League season.

Pensacola center fielder Gabriel Guerrero led the hit parade for the Blue Wahoos, going 3-6 with a run scored. This season, the 23-year-old has had 25 multi-hit games, including five three-hit games.

Despite the loss, Guerrero said he has enjoyed seeing the Pensacola lineup produce 22 runs over the past three games. Defense and pitching were the keys to the Blue Wahoos first half crown in the South Division, as the team hit a paltry .228.

“It’s fun with everybody hitting,” Guerrero said. “That’s good. Hopefully, we will win more games.”

Aquino, the Cincinnati Reds No. 6 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, was 2-4 with two runs scored, a double and hit his ninth homer of the season to lead the ball club. Second baseman Josh VanMeter blasted his second homer in two games and now has three on the season.

Blue Wahoos fans also got to see the return of reliever Zack Weiss, who saved 25 games for the club in 2015. However, one of the Reds top pitching prospects missed the entire 2016 season with a pitching elbow injury that he finally had surgery on earlier this year.

Weiss pitched one inning, allowed one run on two hits and struck out one. Previously, he made 10 appearances for the High-A Daytona Tortugas where he was 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA and allowed opponents a .178 batting average.

“It’s nice to see him back,” Kelly said. “He had a great season here two years ago.”

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