After Strange Week, Blue Wahoos Seek To Continue Win Streak
The Blue Wahoos arrived in Montgomery a week ago on May 17 riding an emotional high, following their most successful homestand in franchise history.
What ensued became one of their strangest weeks.
They played just one game, a 7-1 win May 18 against the Montgomery Biscuits that extended the Blue Wahoos win streak to seven games and their first-place position in the Southern League South Division.
The other five games, however, were cancelled due to issues related to Covid-19 within the Biscuits team.
The Blue Wahoos returned Friday to Pensacola and were able to get two workouts at Blue Wahoos Stadium. They kept to a routine and gave the players Monday off, leading into the start of back-to-back homestands beginning on Tuesday against the Mississippi Braves.
“It’s tough, we’re playing well,” said Blue Wahoos manager Kevin Randel, whose team won an entire six-game series for the first time since the format began in 2021. “A lot of things were going our way and when you miss out on some games, you lose those opportunities.
“So hopefully we can just keep these guys locked in.”
The games canceled in Montgomery will not be made up. The teams play multiple times the remainder of the season, but each of those series’ occur during the second-half of the schedule.
The situation created a challenge for the Blue Wahoos to stay in game-ready mode while spending three nights in a hotel, before on Friday traveling back to Pensacola.
They dealt with a similar situation during the 2021 season when two road series were disrupted by Covid-19 related issues. They had five games cancelled in August 2021 against the Mississippi Braves.
“As much as you learn (from those experiences), you need the games to play,” Randel said. “You need those reps, you need to stay as much on a routine as possible.
“And when you are not playing games, it’s almost impossible to stay on a routine. As much work as you want to get in with BP (batting practice), ground balls and this and that, it’s that live game action we are missing out on.
“But it’s just one of those things, it happens, you just hope for the best when you come back.”
When the Blue Wahoos play Tuesday, hoping for no weather issues, the team will seek to match the franchise record with an eighth consecutive win.
The Blue Wahoos won eight in a row in 2017, while a Cincinnati Reds affiliate. That season resulted in the team winning the Southern League co-championship.
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THIS WEEK
The Blue Wahoos homestand will include the first mid-week Wednesday “School’s Out Fireworks” show following the game, in addition to the regular Saturday post-game fireworks.
It’s also the one-price Wednesday with each ticket in the seating bowl area costing $17 in advance and including a hot dog, chips and soda on the Winn-Dixie Party Deck.
Thursday is Teacher Appreciation Night in addition to Pensacola Mullet Thursday with beverage special.
On Friday, the giveaway item is a Blue Wahoos tote bag. Saturday’s game will pay tribute to NAS Pensacola along with the Navy baseball weekend wearing the specialty uniforms. Sunday will include children being able to run the bases following the game and family toss in the outfield.
WAHOOS NOTABLES
In the only game they played last week, the Blue Wahoos’ Cody Mincey earned his third consecutive win by working five innings, then the team’s bullpen took over with four scoreless innings in the 7-1 win against Montgomery on May 18.
The Blue Wahoos pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts, including 10 by relievers in that game.
FIRST PLACE
The Blue Wahoos (19-15) have a 3.5 game, division lead on the Biloxi Shuckers and M-Braves, both of whom are at 18-21.
The first half will end in June 26, after the first 69 games on the schedule are finished. The South and North division winners will be determined by winning percentage, thus enabling a way to account for rainouts and Covid-19 issues which create disparity in games played.
ENCARNACION ELEVATED
Prior to the Montgomery series, the Miami Marlins promoted Blue Wahoos’ top hitter Jerar Encarnacion to Triple-A Jacksonville.
Rated the No. 22 player in the Marlins’ organization by MLB Pipeline, Encarnacion had the second-highest batting average in the Southern League at .358 and led the team with eight home runs.
In six games with the Jumbo Shrimp. Encarnacion has collected seven hits in 23 at-bats, including two home runs and four RBI.
PITCHING ROTATION ALTERED
The cancellation of games forced changes in the Blue Wahoos pitching rotation. Eury Perez, the 19-year-old who has wowed with his home starts, will now pitch on Wednesday rather than Friday.
As a staff, the Blue Wahoos starters went into last week having thrown the most innings (167) and producing the lowest opponents’ batting average (.222) against them.
MEMORIAL WEEKEND TRIBUTE
The Blue Wahoos will wear Navy uniforms on Saturday and Sunday games, as part of the team’s tribute on Memoria Day Weekend to the U.S. Navy’s role with baseball during wartime eras.
Hall of Fame legend Ted Williams was twice stationed at Naval Air Station-Pensacola during World War II and the Korean War and played on an all-star, recreation team at the former Bronson Field with other MLB players of that era.
In addition to the uniforms, the Blue Wahoos will now have a permanent mural display to Navy baseball in Pensacola on the stairway wall coming from the main entrance to the ballpark.
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SOUTHERN LEAGUE STANDINGS
NORTH DIVISION
Rocket City Trash Pandas – 23-16
Tennessee Smokies – 23-16
Chattanooga Lookouts -- 21-18
Birmingham Barons – 14-25
SOUTH DIVISION
Pensacola Blue Wahoos – 19-15
Biloxi Shuckers – 18-21
Mississippi Braves – 18-21
Montgomery Biscuits – 15-19
Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola Blue Wahoos return home after covid-cancelled trip
