
Jake Smolinski(left)walked three times in the Suns 2-1 win over the Blue Wahoos July 16, 2012 at Bayfront Stadium. Photo Courtesy: Pensacola Blue Wahoos
By Steve Kolbe
Daniel Corcino(above)allowed just one run and struck out six in the Blue Wahoos 6-2 win over the Suns. Photo Courtesy: Pensacola Blue Wahoos
By Steve Kolbe
Pensacola shortstop Billy Hamilton hit the first inside-the-park home run in team history, and the Blue Wahoos evened the series against the Suns with a 6-2 win on Sunday afternoon at Bayfront Stadium.
Suns lefty Jose Alvarez came off the disabled list to make his first start since July 2nd, when he was forced to leave a game against Pensacola with a groin injury. The Blue Wahoos jumped out to the lead in the second inning against Alvarez. Bill Rhinehart led off with a double, but Alvarez was able to retire the next two Blue Wahoos batters. Miguel Rojas drew a two-out walk to put runners on second and third, and Mark Fleury then doubled down the right field line with both Rhinehart and Rojas scoring to give Pensacola a 2-0 advantage. Fleury entered the game batting just .143 against left handed pitchers. Blue Wahoos starting pitcher Daniel Corcino helped his own cause by driving in Fleury with a RBI-single to make the score 3-0. The Blue Wahoos improved to 38-14 when scoring the first run of the game, the Suns dropped to 10-37 when allowing the first run.
The Suns scored their first run of the day in the second inning when Paul Gran drove in his 19th run of the season, with Jake Smolinski scoring to cut the Blue Wahoos lead to 3-1.
Pensacola tacked on a run in the fourth when Beau Mills doubled and went to third on a single by Miguel Rojas. With runners on the corners, Fleury drove in his third run of the game when he grounded into a double play, with Mills scoring to pad the lead to 4-1.
Shortstop Billy Hamilton made Pensacola history in the seventh, when he hit a ball to right-center field off of Suns reliever Mike Ojala. Right fielder Kyle Jensen made a diving attempt only to have the ball deflect off his glove, hit center fielder Donnie Webb, and roll all the way to the warning track. Hamilton was given the green light, rounded third, and scored standing up to put Bayfront Stadium’s first inside-the-park home run in the books.
Beau Mills hit a solo home run in the eighth to increase the Blue Wahoos lead to 6-1. Kyle Jensen hit a solo home run in the ninth for the Suns to make it 6-2. It was Jensen’s 12th homer of the season.
Daniel Corcin0 (7-4) allowed one run on five hits over six and a -third innings for the win. Jose Alvarez (2-5) took the loss surrendering four runs on six hits in his four innings of work.
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Catcher Kyle Skipworth drove in a pair of runs to lead the Suns past the Blue Wahoos 6-1. Jacksonville improved to 14-10 this season against Pensacola to clinch the season series. Photo Courtesy: Jacksonville Suns
By Steve Kolbe
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
The Suns took three of five games in the series from the Blue Wahoos with a 2-1 win Wednesday June 6, 2012 at Bayfront Stadium. Photo Courtesy: Pensacola Blue Wahoos
By Steve Kolbe
Suns center fielder Donnie Webb drove in both runs for Jacksovnille in a 2-1 win over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos on Wednesday night at Bayfront stadium. The Suns improved to 8-4 in series finales this season.
The Suns started the scoring in the third inning against Pensacola starter Daniel Corcino. Webb led off with a triple, and scored when Chris Gutierrez lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to put the Suns up 1-0. Webb has hit four of his five triples this season against the Blue Wahoos. The Suns are 22-6 when scoring the first run of the game, while the Blue Wahoos dropped to 4-20 when they allow the first strike.
In the fifth inning, Webb connected for his second home run of the season to increase the lead to 2-0. The Suns have hit 13 home runs in the last 22 games. Both of Webb’s round trippers this season have come against Blue Wahoos pitcher Daniel Corcino. Webb finished the series 6-19 and drove in four runs in the five games.
Pensacola scored a run in the eighth inning when Ryan LaMarre came home on a sacrifice fly by Josh Fellhauer to cut the lead to 2-1, but that would be the last run of the night. The Suns improved to 12-8 against the Blue Wahoos this season, and close calls have been the norm between the in-state rivals, with 11 of the 20 meetings decided by only one run.
Jacksonville improved to 17-13 on the road this season, with nine of the wins by just a single run. The Suns moved into sole possession of third place in the South Division, one game ahead of Pensacola. The Suns denied the Blue Whoos their first three-game win streak since they won three in a row against Montgomery in the first series of the season.
The Suns won for just the second time this season when scoring two runs or less (2-23). Their previous win was 2-0 on Opening Night against Huntsville April 5th at the Baseball Grounds.
The center fielders stole the show at the plate. For the Suns, Donnie Webb finished 3-for-4 and scored both runs. For the Blue Wahoos, Ryan LaMarre went 3-for-4 with three singles and scored Pensacola’s lone run. All six of the Blue Wahoos hits in the game were singles.
Suns starter Matthew Neil made his Double-A debut against the Blue Wahoos May 20th, and on Wednesday he earned his first career Double-A win against Pensacola. Neil allowed five singles and struck out a season-high six batters over six innings. Evan Reed closed out the game for his 12th save of the year, and is now tied for the league lead. In his fourth start against Jacksonville this season, Daniel Corcino suffered his third straight loss and fell to 2-4 on the season. He allowed two runs on five hits in five innings of work.
The Suns return home on Thursday to face the top team in the Southern League, with the 37-23 Jackson Generals making their lone visit of the season to the Baseball Grounds.
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
The Blue Wahoos scored the game-winning run with two outs in the 11th inning for a 3-2 victory over the Jacksonville Suns June 4, 2012 at Bayfront Stadium. Photo Courtesy: Pensacola Blue Wahoos
By Steve Kolbe
Game four of the series is Tuesday with the first pitch scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST. For the Suns, LHP Graham Taylor (3-4, 4.41) will take the mound. In his last start, Taylor allowed two runs on six hits in a win over Mobile. The Blue Wahoos will look to even the series with RHP Daniel Corcino (2-3, 3.79) on the hill.
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Jacksonville and Pensacola combined for 24 hits, 23 of them singles, in the Suns 5-4 win June 3, 2012 at Bayfront stadium. Photo Courtesy: Jacksonville Suns
By Steve Kolbe
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
The Jacksonville Suns scored seven unanswered runs in the final three innings to rally for a 9-6 win over the Blue Wahoos June 2, 2012 at Bayfront Stadium. Photo Courtesy: Pensacola Blue Whaoos
By Steve Kolbe
The Jacksonville Suns hammered out a season-high 14 hits, and used a late inning rally for a 9-6 win over the Blue Wahoos in Pensacola on Saturday night. The Suns took sole possession of third place in the South Division with the victory.
The Suns took the lead in the first inning against Blue Wahoos starter Tim Crabbe. Chris Gutierrez walked to start the game for the second straight night, and German Duran doubled off the left field wall to put runners on second and third with no outs. Kyle Jensen then gave the Suns a 1-0 lead with a ground ball to the right side of the infield for his 30th RBI of the season. The Suns improved to 21-5 when scoring the first run of the game. The Blue Wahoos fell to 4-19 when they allow the first run.
German Duran increased the Suns lead in the third inning with his second home run of the season, a solo blast to left field for a 2-0 advantage. Duran finished the game 3-for-5 and a triple shy of the cycle. He drove in two runs and scored three times.
Suns starter Omar Poveda allowed just three hits in the first four innings, but struggled in the fifth with the first five Pensacola batters in the inning reaching base. Pensacola sent 10 men to the plate in the inning and scored six times. Pinch hitter Stephen Hunt singled and Ryan LaMarre walked to start the rally. Didi Gregorius hit a ball sharply to first that went under the glove of German Duran and into right field, with Hunt scoring on the error to put the Blue Wahoos on the board. Brodie Greene gave Pensacola a 3-2 lead when he drove in two runs with a single to center, with LaMarre and Gregorius crossing the plate. David Vidal drove in a run with a single to increase the lead to 4-2. The Blue Wahoos used the suicide squeeze with Josh Fellhauer racing home from third, and a sacrifice fly by Mark Fleury to make the score 6-2. The Suns have allowed six runs in an inning three times this season.
The Suns started their comeback in the seventh when Donnie Webb doubled to lead off the inning. With two outs, German Duran singled to right to drive in his second run of the night to cut the lead to 6-3. Shawn Bowman followed with double, with Duran scrambling all the way from first and it was 6-4 Blue Wahoos.
In the eighth, the Suns put together the big inning against reliever Justin Freeman sending eight men to the plate and scoring four runs on five hits. Bowman drove in two runs with his third double of the game. Webb and Gutierrez each had RBI singles and the Suns grabbed an 8-6 lead.
Jacksonville tacked on one more in the ninth when Jeff Dominguez doubled and scored on Webb’s sacrifice fly. German Duran, Shawn Bowman, and Jake Jefferies each finished with three hits. Bowman’s three doubles tied Jake Smolinski and Paul Gran for the most in a game this season.
The Suns improved to 10-6 against the Blue Wahoos this season. Jacksonville has won five of the six games played at Bay Front Stadium. The Suns have won three of their last four games while the Blue Wahoos have lost three straight and nine of the last 13 games.
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News