What In The World? Blue Wahoos Get Craziest Walk-Off Win Of Season 

From the subdued celebration to the expressionless faces, the Blue Wahoos reaction offered the perfect summation Sunday to their disbelieving win.

Like, what in the heck just happened?

After failing to score with the bases loaded, none out in the ninth inning of a tied game, the Blue Wahoos scored four runs in the 12th inning, after the Birmingham Barons ran out of pitching and summoned their second baseman, JJ Muno, who yielded the rally and the absolute wackiest of Wahoos’ walk-off wins in a 13-12, four-hour triumph at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

The winning run was scored on a throwing error by Barons’ shortstop Moises Castillo on what seemed a routine ground ball that would have forced a 13th inning.

For bizarre value, this win topped the one on June 6, when the Blue Wahoos absorbed four consecutive hit-by-pitches in a ninth-inning walk-off against the Biloxi Shuckers.

In their 57th home game Sunday of 2022, the Blue Wahoos can go ahead and count it among the most stunning in the ballclub’s 10-year history.

Let’s begin with the fact Sunday’s game was delayed an hour by a weather threat. Potential rain in the area, which popped up moments before both teams’ starting pitchers were set to warm-up, led to a precautionary decision to cover the field to keep the infield dry in case of a cloudburst.

The Blue Wahoos starter was Miami Marlins’ Trevor Rogers, who was on his second injury rehab start in Pensacola.

Okay, then there was the game itself. First pitch was at 5 p.m. The winning run scored at 9:14 p.m.

The game contained 26 hits between the teams, eight errors, 15 pitchers used, including nine by Birmingham, six home runs, four blown saves by the Barons, among other crazy stuff.

The Blue Wahoos incredibly trailed five times in the game, but pulled off their fifth win of the six-game homestand against the Barons, the Chicago White Sox affiliate.

Muno, who had five at-bats and scored a run in the game, had to be used in the 12th inning as an emergency reliever. It wasn’t his first go-around on the mound, however.

He appeared in eight other games this season when Birmingham exhausted its bullpen, giving him 7.2 innings of relief.

The Barons had just taken a 12-9 lead against Blue Wahoos reliever Sean Reynolds, who wound up the game-winner for the second time this week despite giving up the runs.

Muno’s main pitch was a knuckleball that was coming in at 65-68 mph. The thinned out crowd which remained past 9 p.m. at Blue Wahoos Stadium, began to stir with some energy after catcher Jan Mercado singled, then Nasim Nunez walked to load the bases.

Jose Devers, who continued his week of hits, followed with an RBI single to score placement runner Thomas Jon making the score 12-10. Norel Gonzalez, then hit a two-run single to tie the game.

Muno got Bubba Hollins to hit a short flyout for the first out. Muno then hit Demetriuis Sims to load the bases. J.D. Orr grounded into a force out at the plate for the second out.

Davis Bradshaw, one of several Blue Wahoos newcomers the last two weeks, hit the first pitch from Muno to Castillo on a play that seemed destined to be a third out and force another inning.

But Castillo’s throw sailed, pulling off first baseman Raudy Read from the bag and he was unable to recover in time to tag Bradshaw, as Gonzalez scored the decisive run.

Hours earlier, Gonzalez hit a 2-run homer to give the Blue Wahoos a 4-1 lead in the third inning. The Barons answered, however, in a big way against Trevor Rogers, who was a National League All-Star and rookie of the year candidate a year ago.

The Marlins pitcher was hit hard Sunday, including the fourth inning when Rogers gave up two doubles and a pair of singles as the Barons tied the game. He gave up another run in the fifth before exiting.

His outing was dinged with seven hits, five runs. He struck out six and didn’t walk a batter. He had fared much better Tuesday against the Barons in a shorter stint.

The Blue Wahoos answered with three runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to tie the game again. They got a two-out single from Bubba Hollins to tie the game, but Devers was thrown out at the plate to thwart a go-ahead run.

From that point, the bullpens took over. The Blue Wahoos had outstanding relief from Tyler Mitzel (one inning) and Dylan Bice (3 innings). Bice became the star of the game for the Blue Wahoos by pitching a clean ninth, then stranding the placement runner in the 10th and 11th innings. It continued his strong progression in a closer’s role.

The game could have been over in the bottom of the ninth. The first three Blue Wahoos batters reached base on a throwing error, hit by pitch and walk. But the next three batters – Thomas Jones, Jan Mercardo and Nasim Nunez – were retired on a pair of strikeouts and a ground out to end any scoring threat.

GAME NOTABLES

-- The wild win became the Blue Wahoos' ninth walk-off win. They are now 9-8 overall in home-away walk-offs. It also improved their home record to 36-21. Against the Southern League North Division teams, the Blue Wahoos are now 27-9.

-- Even with the long day, there were a couple dozen children who were able to run the bases after the game, as part of Family Sunday sponsored by StepOne Automotive and WKRG-News 5.

-- In a touching moment, a former Blue Wahoos season-ticket who is now blind, attended the game with a friend. She asked to hug Kazoo. When the furry team mascot hugged her, tears flowed. The two women stayed until the game ended.

-- Two Blue Wahoos summer interns, Gabe Garcia from Lafayette, La. and student at LSU, along with Pensacola resident Charlie McKinley, who recently completed his degree at Southern Mississippi, were part of a group of people tossing ceremonial first pitches. It was their last home game of their internship.

WHAT'S NEXT?

WHO: Blue Wahoos vs. Mississippi Braves

WHEN: Tuesday (Aug. 16) through Sunday (Aug. 21)

WHERE: Trustmark Park, Pearl, Miss.

RADIO: ESPN Pensacola (99.1 FM and 1330 AM and WYCT 98.7 HD-4).

NEXT HOMESTAND: Begins August 23 vs. Montgomery Biscuits