Wahoos Beat Smokies

May 8, 2015

Jesse Winker’s first hit of the game Thursday at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium knocked in the winning run which led to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos 100th home victory in its fourth season.

Winker’s single to center field scored Juan Perez from second base to give Pensacola a, 5-4, victory over the Tennessee Smokies in front of 4,386 fans. The Blue Wahoos are just 1,620 fans away from reaching one million Friday in its first four seasons of existence.

Winker said a chance for a walk-off is the position a hitter looks forward to being in. Friday’s was his third for Pensacola since being promoted mid-season last year from High-A Bakersfield.

“It’s always a situation you want to be in whether you are 10-for-10 or 0-for-10,” said Winker, the Cincinnati Reds No. 2 rated prospect according to MLB.com. “It’s the best feeling in baseball. Those are the moments you live for.”

After losing both doubleheaders in the last inning on Thursday, the Wahoos turned the tables on the Smokies, who scored its four runs in the first inning off of starting pitcher Daniel Wright on a walk and four hits. The big hit came on right fielder Bijan Rademacher’s bases-clearing double.

The first pitch for the game was tossed by Escambia County’s Teacher of the Year, Anna Barry from Northview High School, and the colors were presented by the Northview High School NJROTC. Click for photos.

Wright settled down and had two 1-2-3 innings and got out of a bases loaded jam in the third inning. He struck out 10 batters in five innings.

Meanwhile, the Blue Wahoos fought back with two runs in the bottom of the first inning when first baseman Kyle Waldrop singled to center field and Perez scored. Seth Mejias-Brean then singled sharply back up the middle to drive in Ryan Wright to bring Pensacola within, 4-2.

Winker scored in the fifth on a ground out by Mejias-Brean, his second RBI of the game. Kyle Skipworth, who led off the sixth with a single in his first game down from Triple-A Louisville, tied the game, 4-4, when he scored on a wild pitch by Smokies reliever Fernando Cruz.

Wright said the two runs in the bottom of the first helped calm him down on the mound. He was happy with pitching six innings and getting the no-decision.

“The two in the bottom of the first really settled me in,” Wright (0-4) said. “I have to spot up my fastball. I don’t throw 97 mph fastballs. That’s not my game.”

“He’s a Hall-of-Famer and you don’t get that chance every day,” Winker said. “I look forward to implementing some of the things he said.”

Both Winker and Wright hope the walk-off changes the course of the season for the last place Blue Wahoos who are 9-19.

“We haven’t started the season off like we wanted to,” Wright said. “We’ve got the batters to do it. We’ve got the pitchers to do it. Jesse coming through there for us is big for us.”

Added the ever-confident Winker: “Anything can happen from this point on.”

Pensacola Manager Pat Kelly said both Winker and Waldrop talked hitting with Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin before the game. Larkin has been in Pensacola during the Smokies series.

“They talked about hitting mechanics,” Kelly said. “We’ve been close a couple of times. Jesse’s been close. He’s worked really hard.”

Winker, who’s hitting .240 this season after winning the Arizona League batting crown in the fall, acknowledged getting some advice from Larkin earlier in the day.

Photos by Barrett McClean for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

One Response to “Wahoos Beat Smokies”

  1. Sage 2 on May 8th, 2015 2:51 pm

    Someone helped to break the jinx with a little chicken blood and snuff. Go Yawhos!

    Works every time! :-0)

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