Pensacola Pitchers Combine to No-Hit Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Pensacola Blue Wahoos pitchers Jackson Stephens, Matt Magill and Carlos Gonzalez combined on a seven-inning no-hitter Friday against the Jacksonville Suns at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
Pensacola won, 6-0, in the second game of a doubleheader as Blue Wahoos starting pitcher Stephens pitched five scoreless innings, allowing no hits, two walks and striking out two. He improved to 3-3 with a 3.74 ERA.
Reliever Matt Magill then threw one inning and struck out the side. Carlos Gonzalez pitched the seven and set the Suns down in order. This was the second no-hitter in team history with the first one in 2012.
Meanwhile, Jacksonville won the first game of Friday's doubleheader, 4-0, on a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning by first baseman Brady Shoemaker followed by a solo shot by right fielder Moises Sierra to left center.
Pensacola is 25-17 and now tied with the Biloxi Shuckers for first place in the Southern League South Division. Pensacola has been chasing Biloxi since it lost to them, 4-3, April 19. Meanwhile, Jacksonville fell to fourth place and is 18-23.
In the second game, Stephens, who's pitching at the Double-A level for the first time, mowed down the Suns. The 22-year-old has had four two-hitters and one one-hitter in his five years in Minor League Baseball.
Pensacola center fielder Bryson Smith tripled two runs in the top of the third inning to put the Blue Wahoos on top, 2-0. Smith then scored on a sacrifice fly by Tony Renda to right field for a 3-0 lead.
Pensacola added another run in the fourth when first baseman Kyle Parker singled to left field, Brandon Dixon doubled to left field and right fielder Jeff Galalich singled to right field to score Parker and increase the Blue Wahoos' lead to 4-0.
Pensacola shortstop Alex Blandino added two more runs in the seventh when he singled to right field, scoring both Smith and Renda to score make the final score, 6-0.
In the first game, Jacksonville scored four runs with two outs in the sixth inning. Shoemaker hit a three-run homer that brought in center fielder Yefri Perez and left fielder Austin Dean. Sierra then followed with his blast to left center.
Both home runs came off of Pensacola starter Sal Romano, who gave up seven hits and one walk and struck out five in 5.2 innings. Romano is 1-3 with a 4.74 ERA.
Meanwhile, Suns starter Jake Esch pitched six scoreless innings, giving up four hits and six strikeouts. He improved to 5-4 with a 4.63 ERA.
Leading Pensacola at the plate was Calten Daal, who accounted for three of the Blue Wahoos' five hits on his 3-3 day at the plate. Second baseman Zach Vincej and center fielder Phillip Ervin each got a hit as both went 1-3. Pensacola was 0-10 with runners in scoring position.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Smith went 1-4 with two runs and two RBIs and Blandino was 2-3 with two RBIs. After hitting .167 in April, Blandino has increased his average to .281 in May.
Celebrate five seasons of baseball with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos this season! Blue Wahoos tickets are available for purchase at Hill-Kelly Dodge Pick-Up Window and by calling (850) 934-8444. Follow the team at BlueWahoos.com, facebook.com/PensacolaBlueWahoos and twitter.com/BlueWahoosBBall.
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