PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Pensacola Blue Wahoos endured the longest rain delay in stadium history on Friday night, trailing the Birmingham Barons 16-13 through eight innings before running into a time curfew.
The final inning of Thursday's game will be played at 5:00 p.m. CT on Friday before the Blue Wahoos and Barons play their regularly scheduled game at 6:05.
The game started just as any other. Eliazar Dishmey got the start for Pensacola and had a near flawless first three innings, keeping the Barons off the board for that stretch. This allowed the Wahoos to strike first in the bottom of third. With one out, Aiva Arquette was hit by a pitch with two strikes on him. He followed that up with a steal of second and eventually came around to score when Juan Matheus singled on a ground ball to third that Barons #1 prospect Caleb Bonemer threw away, giving the ‘Hoos a 1-0 lead.
That lead lasted just a half inning, because Brimingham strung together four straight hits in the top of the fourth, with Dylan Campbell and Colby Shelton driving in a combined three runs to give the Barons a 3-1 lead. But they wouldn’t stop there, as they put together three more runs in the 5th thanks to a three-run bomb off the bat of Alec Briley. With the score now at 6-1 in favor of Birmingham, the Wahoos had some work to do. And boy did they get to work.
Pensacola proceeded to put up 10 runs in the bottom of the 5th. This offensive outburst topped their season high for runs in an inning, which was previously set at 8 during their 23-run escapade at Rickwood Field. Here’s how it went:
Garret Forrester knocked a solo home run, his 5th of the year, over the wall in left with one out to make it a 6-2 game. Then, with two down, 10 straight Pensacola Blue Wahoos reached. Arquette drew a walk, Matheus singled, and Dillon Lewis walked as well to load the bases. A wild pitch advanced all the runners and cut the lead to 6-3. Brendan Jones then drew a walk of his own to reload the bags. That was followed by a 2-run single from Ryan Ignoffo to bring the team within a run.
Cristian Hernández got in on the fun with a 2-RBI double to give Pensacola a 7-6 lead. But the offensive explosion didn’t stop there. Payton Green, who led off the inning, drove Hernández home on with an RBI single to bring the score to 8-6. A couple of walks to Garret Forrester and Cam Cannarella later, Aiva Arquette laced a ball into the gap for a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double to complete the 10-run frame and give Pensacola an 11-6 lead.
During this inning, the Barons must have taken some notes, as they would respond with an astounding 7-run inning of their own in the top of the 6th. With reliever Gabe Bierman on the hill and one batter already retired in the inning, 9 of the next 10 Barons batters would reach base. Grant Magill and Pensacola native TJ McCants hit back-to-back homers to bring the score to 11-8. A few batters later, and with two outs, Anthony DePino drove in a run, followed by an Aiva Arquette error off the bat of Dylan Campbell that scored two runs, and a Colby Shelton RBI single. After Grant Magill would drive in his second run of the inning on a single, Birmingham had stolen the lead back at 13-11.
The Blue Wahoos would get a run back in the bottom of the 6th on Dillon Lewis’ team-high 15th big fly of the season to make it a 12-13 game. The game would get two pitches into the top of the 7th when the rain started to fall. The tarp was brought onto the field, and it would stay there for a lengthy 3 hours and 38 minutes before both clubs agreed the field was in good enough condition to resume.
So, in front of a valiant 12 fans, the Wahoos took the field and would proceed to surrender a leadoff walk that would come around to score on a throwing error from Aiva Arquette, bringing the score to a 14-12 Barons lead. Garret Forrester led off the bottom of the 7th with his second solo dinger of the game to bring the deficit within one once more, but Birmingham would keep their foot on the gas and put up two more runs in the 8th on a 2-RBI knock from Grant Magill, bringing his team’s lead back up to 16-13.
The Wahoos went quietly in the bottom of the 8th which, unexpectedly, ended up being the final inning of the night due to a curfew rule given the local time had surpassed 1:00am.
The game has been suspended and will be continued in the 9th inning on June 19th at 5:00 pm.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Barons on Friday. First pitch from Blue Wahoos Stadium is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT, with a live broadcast beginning at 6:00 on Blab TV, Bally Sports Live, BlueWahoos.com/radio or the MiLB app. For ticket information, visit bluewahoos.com.