Wahoos Shut Out Jacksonville
April 13, 2019
Devin Smeltzer’s first start of the year in Mobile was going to be hard to top. After taking a perfect game into the 5th inning on the road and striking out 9 in Pensacola’s 5-0 win over Mobile on April 6th, the bar was high for his first home start of 2019 on Friday evening.
Consider the bar raised.
Smeltzer shined in his Blue Wahoos Stadium debut, working into the ninth in shutout fashion. He exited with one out in the game’s final inning to a rousing ovation from the Pensacola crowd, having thrown 8.1 scoreless innings without allowing a run on just three hits while striking out eight. Reliever Cody Stashak recorded the final two outs to earn his first save of the year and preserve Pensacola’s 2-0 victory, their third straight over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
With tonight’s win, Smeltzer now holds a ridiculous stat line on the season: two wins, 14.0 innings pitched, just five hits allowed, and 17 strikeouts.
The Blue Wahoos, who have scored first in all eight games this season, continued their trend of taking an early lead. Jordan Gore led off the home half of the first with a single, just as he did last night, and came around to score following a Luis Arraez single and an RBI groundout by Taylor Grzelakowski.
In the second, Jimmy Kerrigan was hit by a pitch, stole second, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on an infield single by Tanner English. The hit was English’s first with Pensacola after being activated from the injured list earlier today. English also made a large impact in the field, making a pair of diving catches in center field.
With the 2-0, Smeltzer cruised, scattering three hits and needing just 85 pitches to work into the ninth. Stashak needed just seven pitches to record the games final out, sending the fans home happy in the fastest Wahoos game of the year: one hour and 57 minutes.
The win improves Pensacola’s record to 6-2 on the season, best in the Southern League. Jacksonville falls to 3-5 with the loss. The two team’s will continue their five-game set at Blue Wahoos Stadium Saturday.
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