
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
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
Blue Wahoos starter J.C. Sulbaran struck out 10 to lead Pensacola to a 9-2 win over Jacksonville June 5, 2012 at Bayfront Stadium. Photo Courtesy: Pensacola Blue Wahoos
By Steve Kolbe
Pensacola tacked on another run in the eighth inning on a RBI ground out by Chris Berset, and the Blue Wahoos had a 9-2 win. It’s the sixth time this season that the Suns have allowed eight runs or more, with the Blue Wahoos accomplishing the feat three times. Pensacola has won consecutive games for the first time in over two weeks, last winning two contests in a row in Jacksonville May 18-19.
It’s the third time this season that the Blue Wahoos have scored nine or more runs in a game, they also had a 9-3 win over the Suns April 26th at the Baseball Grounds. The seven run win is the second largest margin over victory that Pensacola has had in a game this season, second only to an 8-0 win over Birmingham May 12th at Bayfront Stadium.
Suns pitcher Graham Taylor had his shortest outing since his first start of the season, when he allowed six runs in four innings against Chattanooga. Taylor surrendered six runs (5 ER) on ten hits in his four innings of work on Tuesday and fell to 3-5 on the season. Zach Neal came out of the bullpen, allowing three runs on four hits in the final four innings of the game.
Blue Wahoos starter J.C. Sulbaran allowed two runs on seven hits over six and a-third innings to improve his record to 4-4. Sulbaran struck out 10 Suns batters to earn his first win over Jacksonville this season in four starts. Relievers Wilkin De La Rose and Clayton Tanner finished the job, allowing just one hit in the final three innings. Pensacola pitchers fanned 14 Suns batters on Tuesday, and in the series Blue Wahoos hurlers have 49 strike outs in four games.
For the Suns, Donnie Webb and Jeff Dominguez each finished with two hits, with Webb driving in his 15th run of the season. Ryan Patterson, Curt Smith, Kyle Jensen, and Kyle Skipworth each had one hit. The Blue Wahoos collected 14 hits. Five players had multi-hit efforts and seven players scored at least one run for Pensacola. David Vidal finished 3-for-3, drove in a run, and scored twice. Andrew Means went 3-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored. Ryan LaMarre and Brodie Greene each had two hits and two RBI. Didi Gregorius added a pair of hits to extend his hit streak to eight games. It’s his second streak of at least eight games this season.
The rubber match of the series is Wednesday night with the first pitch scheduled for 8:00 p.m. from Bayfront Stadium in Pensacola. RHP Matthew Neil (0-0, 5.49) will start his fourth game of the season for the Suns. RHP Daniel Corcino (2-3, 3.79) is set to take the mound for the Blue Wahoos.
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Tagged as Andrew Means, Bayfront Stadium, Brodie Greene, Chris Berset, Cincinnati Reds, David Vidal, DiDi Gregorius, Donnie Webb, Graham Taylor, J.C. Sulbaran, Jacksonville Suns, Major League Baseball, Miami Marlins, Milb.com, Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Ryan LaMarre, Ryan Patterson, Southern League, Steve Kolbe, Zach Neal
After a 44 minute rain delay, the Jacksonville Suns defeated the Pensacola Blue Wahoos 8-5 at the Baseball Grounds on Thursday May 17th. Photo Courtesy: Jacksonville Suns
By Steve Kolbe
The Jacksonville Suns used the long ball to defeat the Pensacola Blue Wahoos in the first game of their series 8-5 at the Baseball Grounds on Thursday night.
After a 44 minute rain delay, the Suns jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Pensacola starter J.C. Sulbaran, when Jeff Dominguez singled and scored on a Kyle Skipworth grounder that went under the glove of Blue Wahoos second baseman Brodie Greene. The Suns have scored at least one run in the first inning 12 times in 41 games this season, and have a record of 10-2 when they cross the plate in the first inning.
Jacksonville increased the lead to 2-0 in the second, when Kyle Jensen led off with a walk and scored on a one-out double by Chris Gutierrez. It was the first of two doubles and two runs batted in for Gutierrez, who now has eight doubles this season.
The Blue Wahoos figured out starter Jose Alvarez in the third inning, collecting four hits and scoring two runs to tie the game 2-2. With one out, Didi Gregorius doubled and Brodie Greene singled to put runners on first and third. Joel Guzman and Koyie Hill each drove in a run with and RBI single.
Pensacola added two more runs in the fourth against Alvarez when P.J. Phillips led off the inning with a single, and Andrew Means then doubled to center with Phillips motoring around to increase the Blue Wahoos lead to 3-2. Means would later score on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan LaMarre, and Pensacola had a 4-2 advantage.
For the second straight game the Suns would rally from two runs down for a win. In the bottom of the fourth, Kyle Jensen doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gutierrez to trim the Blue Wahoos lead to 4-3.
In the fifth inning, Jacksonville took the lead back when Jeff Dominguez and Jake Smolinski walked to start the inning. Kyle Skipworth drove in Dominguez with a ground out, and Ryan Patterson plated Smolinski with a double down the right field line and the Suns were ahead 5-4.
The score stayed that way until the ninth, with Evan Reed trying to preserve the win. With one out, Didi Gregorius singled and stole second base. Reed retired Brodie Greene on a fly out to center, but with two outs Joel Guzman jumped on a 2-0 pitch and doubled to left to drive in Gregorius and tie the game 5-5.
The Blue Wahoos turned the game over to Curtis Partch for the bottom of the ninth. Jake Smolinski led off with a double, and then Skipworth was walked intentionally. Shawn Bowman ended the game with a walk-off three-run home run that sailed into the flag court in left field to give the Suns an 8-5 win. The Suns have now hit a home run in five of the last six games.
The win snapped the Suns five game home losing streak. Jacksonville was outscored 25-3 in a five game sweep by the Mobile BayBears last week.
Chris Gutierrez finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs batted in. It was his fifth multi-hit game of the year. Kyle Skipworth drove in two runs to increase his RBI total to 17. The Suns finished with 10 hits in the game, reaching double-digits in hits for the first time in 13 games. Seven of the 10 hits were for extra bases, with six doubles and a home run.
Suns starter Jose Alvarez pitched six innings in his seventh start of the season. He allowed seven hits and four runs, while striking out five and walking just one. Blue Wahoos starter J.C. Sulbaran pitched four innings and allowed four hits and five runs. Evan Reed pitched two innings for the Suns earning the win and is now 2-1 this season. He allowed three hits, struck out three, and gave up the game tying run in the ninth. Curtis Partch didn’t record an out in the ninth and fell to 2-3 on the season.
Filed under Ahead Of The Curve, Southern League News
Tagged as Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, Chris Gutierrez, Cincinnati Reds, Curtis Partch, DiDi Gregorius, Evan Reed, J.C. Sulbaran, Jacksonville Suns, Jake Smolinski, Joel Guzman, Jose Alvarez, Major League Baseball, Miami Marlins, Milb.com, Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Shawn Bowman, Southern League, Steve Kolbe
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