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Wahoos Beat Birmingham In Series Finale
May 12, 2018
It looked like a long night was in store for Wyatt Strahan (W, 4-2) after the Barons scored four runs in the first two innings of the game. Instead, Strahan turned in one of his best starts of the year as the Wahoos came from behind to win Friday’s finale 6-4 at Regions Field.
The Barons’ start to the game was a microcosm of the entire series between these two teams. In the first inning, the Barons jumped ahead on a two-run home run from Zack Collins, and immediately doubled their lead in the second when Keon Barnum launched a two-run shot of his own. That marked Birmingham’s 21st home run against the Wahoos throughout the 10 games, which is exactly half of the total home runs allowed by Blue Wahoos pitching this season (42.)
But after those two innings, Strahan slammed the door shut on the hosts for the rest of his outing. The USC graduate retired 17 of the final 18 Barons before he was lifted, having completed seven strong innings for his longest outing of the season. He also did not walk a batter for the first time this season and struck out four.
After Taylor Sparks chipped in a solo home run in the second inning to put the Pensacola on the board, the Wahoos scored three runs in the fifth inning to tie the game at 4-4.
After an error and a walk, Shed Long laced a two-run triple off Barons starter Ian Clarkin (L, 3-4), and then scored on Luis Gonzalez’s RBI groundout. In the following inning, Gavin LaValley walked and then scored after Aristides Aquino crushed his third home run of the season to give the Wahoos a 6-4 lead. Pensacola tacked on a precious insurance run in the ninth inning after C.J. McElroy singled, stole a base, advanced on a passed ball, and scored on Gonzalez’s infield single to short.
The bullpen had to withstand some late-inning pressure from the Barons but held on to close out the win for the visitors. Carlos Navas hurled a scoreless eighth inning, which extended his team-best scoreless-inning streak to 9.2 innings. Alex Powers then entered the game in the ninth but was chased from the game after loading the bases and allowing a two-out single to Ryan Brett, which cut the Wahoos lead down to 7-6. Jody Davis then brought in Rafael De Paula (S, 2) to secure the final out, and after De Paula walked Collins to load the bases, he got Chicago White Sox top prospect, Eloy Jimenez to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game.
Pensacola will continue their road trip with a five-game series against the first-place Biloxi Shuckers. Last season the Wahoos won 11 of their 20 matchups against the Milwaukee Brewers Double-A affiliate; however, the Shuckers will enter play 11 games above .500. Daniel Wright (2-1, 6.42) will take the hill for the Blue Wahoos in search of his first win since April 16th. He will be opposed by Thomas Jankins (5-1, 3.63), who suffered his first loss of the year in his last outing.
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