SL1 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Suns Fall by 6-3 Final in Pensacola

Published on April 16, 2013 under Southern League (SL1)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp News Release


PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Suns scored in the first and ninth innings but couldn't muster anything in between in a 6-2 loss to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium, snapping Jacksonville's five-game winning streak.

The Suns had not lost since the first game of the team's previous series in Huntsville, but could not generate enough offense to combat a rough outing from spot starter James Leverton (0-1) on Tuesday.

Leverton, starting for the injured Robert Morey, gave up all six runs on six hits while striking out four and walking one in two and two thirds innings. The left-hander threw just 48 pitches before being lifted for Jordan Conley with two outs in the bottom of the third inning.

The Suns jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first on Mark Canha's two-run single but failed to add on against Blue Wahoos starter Josh Smith (1-2), who earned his first victory of the season. Smith finished his outing with four scoreless frames after the rocky first inning, striking out four Suns and walking two.

Pensacola wasted no time in erasing the early two-run deficit, knotting the score on Donald Lutz's two-run home run in the bottom of the first. Two innings later, Bryson Smith doubled off Leverton to bring in two more runs and give the Blue Wahoos their first lead of the series.

Leverton was lifted in favor of Jordan Conley, but Conley served up a two-run double to Devin Lohman to push Pensacola's lead to 6-2, where the score would remain until the ninth inning.

Unable to score against starter Smith or reliever Yohan Pino, Jacksonville mounted a rally in their last at-bat against left-hander Lee Hyde. Mark Canha singled to lead off the frame, and Jake Smolinski followed with a walk to put two runners on. Two batters later, Daniel Pertusati singled in Canha to pull the Suns to within three runs.

Derek Dietrich struck out swinging for the second out of the inning, after which Hyde was lifted for Curtis Partch. Chris Gutierrez, the last hope for Jacksonville, struck out facing Partch to end the game and the Suns' five-game win streak.

Canha finished the night with three of the Suns' eight hits, and Derek Dietrich added two of his own, but Jacksonville left eight runners on base and couldn't dig out of the early four-run hole.

The loss drops Jacksonville's record to 8-4, still good enough for a tie for the best mark in the Southern League with the Birmingham Barons. Jacksonville will get a chance to start a new winning streak on Wednesday in game three of the series at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET. Left-hander Adam Conley (0-0, 2.00 ERA) will make his third start for the Suns, opposed by Pensacola right-hander Tim Crabbe (1-0, 0.82 ERA).

Suns fans can listen to the game broadcast beginning at 7:45 p.m. with the UF & Shands Suns Sunday Pre Game Show on WSOS-FM 94.1. Other options include listening to live audio through jaxsuns.com or MiLB.com, or through the Suns iPhone or Android app.

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Southern League Stories from April 16, 2013


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