Pensacola Drops Series, 3-2, to Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., - The Pensacola Blue Wahoos came within, 3-2, in the seventh inning but the Birmingham Barons held on to win, 5-2, Thursday at Regions Field.

Birmingham captured the series, 3-2, but Pensacola won the head-to-head matchup 6-4 this season.
Pensacola third baseman Nick Senzel, the Cincinnati Reds top prospect, blasted a solo homer to left field to lead off the seventh inning to trail the Barons, 3-1. It was his fifth homer with the Blue Wahoos and 22nd RBI in 38 games.
Pensacola scored a second run in the inning when DH Chad Tromp singled to left field with two outs to drive in left fielder Josh VanMeter to pull within, 3-2. But that was as close as the Blue Wahoos would get.
Birmingham scored first in the second inning when left fielder Courtney Hawkins scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by catcher Brett Austin for a 1-0 lead.
Barons second baseman Danny Mendick then put Birmingham ahead, 2-0, in the third inning when he scored when right fielder Mason Robbins grounded out into a double play.
Birmingham added another run in the sixth inning to go up, 3-0, when DH Keon Barnum smacked a single to right field that scored Hawkins.
Blue Wahoos pitcher Domingo Tapia made his eighth spot start and worked five innings. He gave up two runs on eight hits and two walks and struck out two. As a starter for Pensacola, he is 1-4 on the year.
Birmingham scored two more runs in the eighth inning off Pensacola reliever Brennan Bernardino to go ahead, 5-2.
Pensacola fell into second place in the Southern League South Division with a 20-20 record in the second half. Pensacola is 60-50 overall and won the first half title. Birmingham, which is in last place in the Southern League North Division, is 17-23 and are 43-66 overall.
Tickets to the 2017 playoffs are now on sale! Purchase tickets online at bluewahoos.com, visiting the Box Office or calling 850-934-8444. The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are the Double-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a member of the Southern League. Follow the Pensacola Blue Wahoos at BlueWahoos.com, facebook.com/PensacolaBlueWahoos and twitter.com/BlueWahoosBBall.
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