Pearl, Miss. - The Blue Wahoos and M-Braves were tied with one out in the eighth inning until Mississippi scored five runs to take Wednesday's contest 9-4.With runners at first and third, Cleuluis Rondon bunted a safety squeeze back to the pitcher, Brennan Bernardino, who couldn't field it cleanly allowing
Pearl, Miss. - The Blue Wahoos and M-Braves were tied with one out in the eighth inning until Mississippi scored five runs to take Wednesday's contest 9-4.
With runners at first and third, Cleuluis Rondon bunted a safety squeeze back to the pitcher, Brennan Bernardino, who couldn't field it cleanly allowing Austin Riley to score. With the Braves leading 5-4, Bernardino did well to strike out Connor Lien but then allowed a double to Luis Valenzuela and a home run to Tyler Marlette to make it 9-4.
The loss doesn't tarnish what was a fine outing for Vladimir Gutierrez, who pitched six innings and allowed only three runs. After a bumpy first inning where Gutierrez allowed a couple of runs, the Wahoos starter looked comfortable allowing just three baserunners over the rest of his outing.
Austin Riley dealt more punishment to the Wahoos this series going 3-for-4 on Wednesday, with two triples. In this series, Riley is now hitting .583 (7-for-12) with four RBI.
Pensacola used the long ball to power the offense for most of the afternoon. Taylor Sparks tied the game at 2-2 when he belted his first home run of the season off M-Braves starter Touki Toussaint. It appeared the Wahoos would pull away in the fifth when Nick Longhi's two-run shot put Pensacola ahead 4-2. However, Riley's second triple of the game in the bottom of the fifth pulled one back for Mississippi, and in the seventh, Valenzuela's pinch-hit home run tied it up at 4-4.
Aristides Aquino made it back-to-back games with an RBI with his first inning groundout that gave the Wahoos a 1-0 lead. Luiz Gonzalez also had another fine performance since joining the Wahoos from Daytona going 2-for-3 with a double. Shed Long also extended his on-base streak to 11 games with his first-inning single (also has a concurrent six-game hitting streak).
Pensacola will give the ball to Jesús Reyes (0-2, 9.45) who looks to clinch a series win for the Blue Wahoos. His opponent is 25-year old Wes Parsons (0-0, 1.35) who has only pitched just under seven innings this season for Mississippi. First pitch is slated for 7:00 PM CT and can be heard on 97.1 The Ticket and on Bluewahoos.com through the TuneIn app.
- Pensacola Blue Wahoos -
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The 2018 season is underway at beautiful Blue Wahoos Stadium on Pensacola Bay. Group packages, season tickets, mini plans and single-game tickets are available for the 2018 season by calling (850) 934-8444 or online. Follow the Blue Wahoos at bluewahoos.com, facebook.com/PensacolaBlueWahoos, and twitter.com/BlueWahoosBBall
