Biscuits Rally Late, Send Blue Wahoos To 9-7 Loss

June 12, 2023

The Blue Wahoos missed on a prime chance Sunday to complete the week and set up the next one.

They led 7-0 into the sixth inning, but on an afternoon where the bay wind was a factor, the Montgomery Biscuits answered with three home runs against three different pitchers for a 9-7 victory, quieting a capacity crowd of 5,038 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

The loudest cheer in the final part of the game was the Blue Angels performing an unexpected flyover during their return home from an air show in Tennessee.

The Blue Wahoos won the week’s series against Montgomery 4-2, but a win Sunday, after staking such a big lead, could have put them in a strong position to clinch the first half Southern League division race at home with the next series that begins Tuesday against the Mississippi Braves.

Pensacola’s lead is now six games over the Biloxi Shuckers, seven games up on Montgomery and 7.5 against the M-Braves.

Everything started so well on Family Sunday for the Blue Wahoos.

In an injury rehab start, Johnny Cueto survived a bases-load situation in the first inning and pitched into the third. It was another step forward for the 37-year-old Cueto in an effort to return to the Miami Marlins. It was only his third time on the mound this season.

In the bottom of the first, first baseman Troy Johnston staked a 3-0 lead with a two-out, 3-run, wind-aided homer over the left-center fence to instantly energize the crowd. That hit was a part of Johnston’s huge day at the plate, going 4-for-5 to raise his average to .264.

But it also became an indicator of what kind of day this would be on pitchers. The teams combined for 26 hits and 18 runners left on base. For the Blue Wahoos, Cody Morissette went 3-for-4 as the team’s other big hitter.

In the fifth inning, catcher Jan Mercado blasted a grand slam and suddenly the Blue Wahoos were up 7-0, seemingly on their way to a perfect weekend of wins.

Everything then went the other way. The Biscuits scored two runs off Luis Palacios in the sixth, beginning with a solo homer from Junior Caminero. They plated two more against Luis Palacios in the seventh inning.

And then a disastrous eighth inning hit.

Dylan Bice gave up a leadoff home run to Diego Infante. He then loaded the bases on a walk, an error he made when dropping a slow grounder, then a single.

Austin Roberts entered with a one-out, bases full situation and gave up a grand slam against Austin Shenton to flip the lead and silence the mood.

The Blue Wahoos did not get a hit against the Biscuits bullpen in the final three innings.

Cueto, 37, two time MLB All-Star and 2015 World Series champion with the Kansas City Royals, pitched in his first game since an injury rehab start May 6 in Jacksonville.

Cueto has made only one start for the Marlins after getting signed in January, and that was back on April 3 when he gave up four runs in the first inning and didn’t pitch again with a bicep issue until the game in Jacksonville.

The Blue Wahoos will have Monday off while staying in Pensacola. They will begin the second half of their extended homestand on Tuesday against the Mississippi Braves, the Atlanta Braves’ Double-A affiliate.

by Bill Vilona, photo Nino Mendez / Pensacola Blue Wahoos

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