PENSACOLA, Fla. - Saturday it was Taylor Widener who stymied the Wahoos bats. Sunday, it was Ryan Atkinson's turn, and the former indy ball pitcher twirled six shutout innings in Jackson's 6-0 win at Blue Wahoos Stadium. For the second consecutive game, Jackson's offense jumped out in front early. After
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Saturday it was Taylor Widener who stymied the Wahoos bats. Sunday, it was Ryan Atkinson's turn, and the former indy ball pitcher twirled six shutout innings in Jackson's 6-0 win at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
For the second consecutive game, Jackson's offense jumped out in front early. After a single from Jamie Westbrook, Rudy Flores cranked his seventh home run of the season off Vladimir Gutierrez (L, 1-6) to put the guests up 2-0. Jackson's offense was relentless as they added runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings before they tallied one final run in the eighth. When the dust settled on Sunday's contest, the Generals finished with six runs on 10 hits.
Gutierrez pitched five innings and surrendered a season-high five earned runs for the second time this year. His usual pinpoint command was absent in his ninth start of 2018. He often fell behind the General batters and issued a four-pitch walk to Marcus Littlewood in the fourth inning. Former Blue Wahoo and current Cincinnati Red, Michael Lorenzen, made his scheduled two-inning rehab appearance in the sixth inning and did so in flawless fashion. Lorenzen retired all six batters he faced and struck out two.
The Wahoos offense sputtered again Sunday as Atkinson kept Pensacola's bats in check. Despite recording hits in the first three innings of the game, the Wahoos were unable to drive any of the runners home. Atkinson navigated through trouble again the fifth inning after Alberti Chavez singled and C.J. McElroy walked, but the former Cincinnati Bearcat struck out Luis Gonzalez and got Brian O'Grady to pop out to end the threat. Atkinson struck out the side in the sixth before being lifted from the game, capping off a season-best 10 strikeout performance. Sam Lewis and Bud Jeter allowed one baserunner over the game's final three innings. The Blue Wahoos have now been shut out three times this season.
Jackson's starting pitchers have been the difference through the first four games of the series. Pensacola has pushed across three runs against the Generals starting rotation. The Wahoos are just 16-for-96 against Justin Donatella, Alex Young, Taylor Widener, and Atkinson. It gets no easier for Pensacola when they face the Diamondbacks top prospect in right-hander Jon Duplantier, who led all of minor league baseball last season with a 1.39 ERA. Duplantier was named the MLB Pipeline Pitcher of the Year in 2017 and also pitched for Team USA in the 2017 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game.
Tomorrow's finale is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with the Wahoos hoping to avoid a five-game sweep. Wyatt Strahan (4-2, 6.18) will get the green light for Pensacola while Duplantier (2-1, 2.96) looks to seal the deal for Jackson. Tomorrow's contest can be found on 97.1 The Ticket, 1490 AM Milton, and www.bluewahoos.com, and television coverage can be seen on Cox Sports Television.
- 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
