Laskey Wows in Start, But Blue Wahoos Fall in 3-2 Loss

Pensacola, Fla. - The Blue Wahoos have a promotional ice cream giveaway whenever a Pensacola pitcher first records three strikeouts in an inning.

Adam Laskey caused a reorder.

Laskey struck out the first six batters he faced, and nine total over 4.0 innings, but the Montgomery Biscuits got enough big hits later for a 3-2 victory Friday night against the Blue Wahoos to even the week-long series.

A capacity crowd of 5,038 on Giveaway Friday sponsored by Total Fire Protection watched an arms duel in this game, which was completed in just 2 hours, 14 minutes.

The game began with Laskey striking out the side on nine pitches -- a baseball rarity of an "Immaculate Inning'' -- that happened only once before in Blue Wahoos franchise history. In 2021, Andrew McInvale completed the feat in the team's first year as a Miami Marlins affiliate.

With Laskey's lead, Blue Wahoos pitchers racked up 14 strikeouts in the game. The Biscuits countered with 11 punchouts and held the Blue Wahoos to six hits and few opportunities.

Laskey remained in near-perfection in the four innings he worked as a spot starter. The first Biscuits batter to put the ball in play was second baseman Willy Vasquez with a leadoff single in the third inning, but he was thrown out by Blue Wahoos catcher Joe Mack trying to steal second.

That proved to be the only time a Laskey pitch left the infield in his four innings. A former mid-draft (19th round) pick out of Duke University in 2019, Laskey was acquired by the Marlins from the Chicago Cubs organization in December 2023.

He appeared in 31 games for the Blue Wahoos last season, including six starts. He pitched in relief last Saturday in the Blue Wahoos sweep of the Biloxi Shuckers, allowing a run in three innings.

His four-pitch arsenal – fastball, change-up, curve ball, slider – was on point in a noteworthy way Friday. He threw just 45 pitches in the specified four-inning start with 35 for strikes. He allowed no walks and faced just 12 batters.

When he exited, the Blue Wahoos had a 1-0 lead after Mack blasted a solo home run that hit the sidewalk behind the right-center berm area and bounced out of the ballpark. The cutter pitch exited Mack’s bat at 106 mph and traveled 437 feet.

The Biscuits got a tying run in the fifth off reliever Nigel Belgrave on a double by Brayden Taylor, one of the Tampa Bay Rays' highest-rated prospects.

By design, the Blue Wahoos had Evan Fitterer pitch the final four innings. After his strong performance as a starter last Saturday, Fitterer was touched up for two runs in the sixth inning on a RBI double by Homer Bush Jr. and Colton Ledbetter’s run-scoring single that proved decisive.

The Blue Wahoos attempted an eighth-inning rally when Jared Serna homered over the left field wall, followed by a Kemp Alderman single and Nathan Martorella walk. But reliever Alfredo Zarraga induced a hard grounder by Shane Sasaki that became an inning-ending double play.

Zarraga then set the Blue Wahoos down in order in the ninth.

The teams will play their fifth game of the series on Saturday, a Fireworks Saturday, featuring the Blue Wahoos' Dax Fulton making his second start of the season.

GAME NOTABLES

--- Game sponsor Total Fire Protection provided 1,000 Blue Wahoos shirseys to the first 1,000 fans.

--- Escambia County Public Schools Teacher of the Year, Kelly Reed, a kindergarten teacher at Global Learning Academy, was honored during pregame activities. She led a parade of ECPS teachers in a lap around the field. Reed also threw out a ceremonial first pitch.

--- Also part of the pregame activities were Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida, who had five ceremonial first pitches and brought awareness to the local chapter of the national organization.

--- The National Anthem was performed by Sarah Javier, an employee at Fishbein Orthodontics. The dental office with multiple locations in Pensacola had an outing of 300 people on the Publix Party Porch and Coors Deck.

--- Bubba Watson, a co-investor in the Blue Wahoos and big supporter, posted an even-par round Friday at The Masters and is 1-under for the tournament. The two-time Masters champion made the cut for the first time in three years.

WANT TO GO?

WHO: Montgomery Biscuits vs. Blue Wahoos

WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday

GAME TIMES: Saturday’s games starts at 6:05 p.m. Sunday’s game starts at 1:05 p.m.

PROMOTIONS: Saturday is Fireworks Saturday, sponsored by TEL Staffing and HR. Sunday is Family & Military Sunday, sponsored by WKRG News-5 and Great Clips. The first 100 active or retired military members can receive a free standing-room-only ticket by stopping by the Blue Wahoos box office and showing their military ID.

TICKETS: Available at www.bluewahoos.com or at the stadium box office which opens Saturday at 2 p.m. The box office opens Sunday at 12 p.m.

TV: The game on Saturday will be on BLAB-TV and Sunday’s game will air on YurView (Cox subscribers only).

LIVESTREAM: www.milb.com (subscription required).

LIVE AUDIO: You can listen to all Blue Wahoos games through BlueWahoos.com or the MiLB app.