Wahoos Shut Out The BayBears

April 21, 2019

Pensacola’s lauded starting pitching rotation got a new cast member on Saturday evening at Blue Wahoos Stadium as Sean Poppen made his first start in a Blue Wahoos uniform. True to the part, the Harvard grad delivered 5.0 shutout innings and struck out 11 BayBears batters in a 5-0 win for Pensacola. With tonight’s outing by Poppen, Blue Wahoos starting pitchers now have a 1.39 ERA this season, having allowed just 13 earned runs in 84.1 innings.

Poppen, who made his first appearance of the year on the mound for AAA-Rochester, recovered from some first inning hiccups before cruising to the win. The game’s leadoff batter Jahmai Jones singled and one batter later Jack Kruger was hit by a pitch, but Poppen quickly worked out of the jam, striking out a pair in the inning.

After walking the first batter in the second, he struck out two more. In the home half of the inning, Tanner English was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on an Ernie De La Trinidad single, the first of three for De La Trinidad.

Poppen was back at it in the third, striking out a pair for the third straight inning. In the fourth, he one-upped himself, striking out the side. Two more strikeouts followed in the fifth, giving him 11 in the game, the most by a Blue Wahoos pitcher this season.

Pensacola scored twice in the bottom of the fifth, using a walk to Brian Schales and singles by Luis Arraez, Jaylin Davis, and English to go up 3-0.

Following the fifth inning, both teams welcomed John Matthew Peacock, an inspirational local 4-year-old who has battled medical problems throughout his life after being born prematurely, for 2019’s first Home Run For Life. John Matthew circled the bases, high fiving the players on both teams, before leaping on home and hugging Kazoo while a sold-out crowd gave him a standing ovation.

LHP Jovani Moran took over on the mound for Pensacola and picked up where Poppen left off, striking out five over 2.0 scoreless, hitless innings.  RHP Cody Stashak followed in the eighth, and struck out a pair over over 2.0 scoreless to finish out the shutout for the Blue Wahoos and give Pensacola pitchers 18 strikeouts in the game.

Offensively, Pensacola had nine hits in the game, including a 3-4 night by De La Trinidad. English was 2-2 with a walk, two RBI, three runs scored, and two stolen bases. Davis was 2-3 with a run and a steal.

The win improves Pensacola’s record to a league-best 11-5 while Mobile falls to 6-9.

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