Wahoos Slug Their Way to Third Win in A Row

BILOXI, MS—The Blue Wahoos won their third game in a row thanks to a five-homer night in a 9-6 win over the Biloxi Shuckers on Wednesday night at MGM Park.

In the bottom of the first inning, Peyton Burdick and Griffin Conine hit back-to-back homers against Jesus Castillo (L, 3-6) to put the Wahoos up 2-0. After the Shuckers tacked an unearned run against Meyer in the bottom of the first, the Wahoos restored their two-run lead when Chris Chinea smoked an RBI double that scored Demetrius Sims.

The Wahoos soon put the game out of reach with a five-run fifth inning that extended the lead to 7-1. Galli Cribbs hit a two-run homer off Castillo in the inning for his first Double-A homer since August 24th, 2019. Later in the inning, Conine belted his second homer of the night off Castillo, his fifth with the Blue Wahoos and his 28th this season. After MJ Melendez hit three home runs tonight for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, both Conine and Melendez are tied for the MiLB lead in homers this year.

In the sixth, Burdick crushed his crushed his 17th homer of the year with a no-doubter to left. According to Trackman technology, the projected distance on Burdick’s home run was 457 feet and possessed an exit velocity of 114 mph. Burdick finished the evening with three hits and two RBI.

Other notable performances include Connor Justus, who finished the night 3-for-3. Justus has now hit safely in five straight games, and during that stretch is slashing .500/.545/.700. Chris Chinea also went 3-for-5 with two RBI for Pensacola.

The offensive explosion distracts from another fine outing from Max Meyer (W, 5-1) who now leads the team in wins. Meyer—who allowed baserunners in all five of his innings—demonstrated poise while neutralizing nearly every rally Biloxi attempted to orchestrate. With runners at first and third in the first inning, Meyer struck out Chad Spanberger to limit the damage to one unearned run. In the same scenario in the third, Meyer induced a Spanberger groundout to keep the Shuckers off the board. Ultimately, Meyer allowed two runs (one earned) while striking out six compared to one walk.

Despite a few late-inning runs from the Shuckers, the game was never seriously in threat for the Wahoos. Pensacola will attempt to make it four consecutive wins in Thursday’s contest against the Shuckers. RHP Zach McCambley will start for the Wahoos (0-3, 6.75) and will be opposed by RHP Justin Bullock (1-0, 1.50). Coverage is available at ESPN Pensacola and at bluewahoos.com.