Pitching Duel Ends in, 2-0, Mobile Win

PENSACOLA, Fla., - Two top pitching prospects went head-to-head and delivered the sellout Pensacola Blue Wahoos crowd exactly what they should have expected - a tight, low-scoring game.

Blue Wahoos starter Louis Castillo, the Cincinnati Reds No. 7 prospect, and Mobile BayBears starter Grayson Long, the Los Angeles Angels No. 6 prospect, dueled to a 1-0 Mobile lead at the end of seven innings.
The rain that sporadically came down during the game, poured down in the top of the ninth inning with Mobile ahead, 2-0, a runner on first base and two outs. The umpires called the game, giving Mobile a 2-0 victory after a 51 minute delay. Pensacola leads the series, 2-1.
Castillo retired 11 of 12 batters after giving up a run in the first inning to Mobile and worked out of a bases-loaded jam when he allowed three straight singles in the fifth inning after getting the first two batters out.
The 24-year-old Dominican threw 103 pitches over seven innings, giving up one run on six hits and allowing no walks. He finished his ninth start of the year with his fifth strike out of the game and pumped his fist and looked to the sky.
Meanwhile, Long retired the first eight batters of the game until Pensacola catcher Joe Hudson doubled into the right field corner in the third inning. Long gave up one other hit when shortstop Blake Trahan singled to centerfield.
Long had Pensacola base runners on first and second base in the fourth and fifth innings but escaped both innings unscathed. He threw five scoreless innings and now has not allowed a run in his two starts against Pensacola over 11 innings and given up just three hits this season. The 22-year-old Long walked three and struck out five Saturday.
Long, who made his Double-A debut against the Blue Wahoos on April 24, picked up the win, improving to 2-2 with a 2.61 ERA. Pensacola righty Castillo dropped to 1-3 with a 2.82 ERA.
Mobile scored on Castillo when BayBears leadoff hitter Zach Gibbons, who doubled and moved to third on a bunt, scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by second baseman David Fletcher. Pensacola right fielder Aristides Aquino threw a one hopper to the plate but Gibbons slid under the tag for a, 1-0, Mobile lead.
Mobile loaded the bases in the fifth inning with two outs but Castillo struck out Mobile left fielder Michael Hermosillo to end the scoring threat.
Pensacola dropped to 24-19 on the season. They are tied for first place in the Southern League South Division with the Biloxi Shuckers, which won, 2-0, over the Chattanooga Lookouts when rain ended that that game after five innings.
GAME NOTES
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos host the fourth game of the five-game series against the Los Angeles Angels Double-A affiliate Birmingham Barons at 4 p.m. Friday, May 18. The BayBears starter is RHP Osmer Morales (1-0, 2.63) against the Blue Wahoos RHP Keury Mella (1-3, 3.92).
The games are broadcast live on the Blue Wahoos flagship station 97.1 The Ticket. Listen for free at bluewahoos.com and by using the TuneIn Radio app on your mobile, desktop or home devices.
You can watch the home games delayed on Cox Sports Television Monday through Thursday on Channel 319. Friday, Saturday and Sunday games are broadcast live on BLAB-TV.
BIG FISH Catcher Joe Hudson was 1-3 with a double and is 9-18 with two doubles in his last seven games…Shortstop Blake Trahan was 1-3…Third baseman Josh VanMeter's 10-game hitting streak ended on a 0-3 night with a walk. His streak had increased his average from .246 to a team-high .283.
HOMERUN FOR LIFE Four days after his high-school graduation, Luke Owens was home alone when his mom came home to discover him sick and disoriented.
An ambulance rushed him to Sacred Heart Hospital, where tests revealed a birth defect in his brain that he unknowingly had his whole life - an abnormal tangle of blood vessels that finally burst.
Owens, a stroke survivor, jogged around the bases giving high-fives to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos players down the first base line and Mobile BayBears down the third base line to a standing ovation by the Blue Wahoos fans.
Sacred Heart neurosurgeons used a state-of-the-art biplane system - the only one of its kind in the region - to quickly locate Owens' blockage. In his two weeks in the hospital, Owens underwent two procedures - an embolization and a craniotomy. To prevent growth of the abnormal blood vessels in his brain, Ownes then had radiation at Sacred Heart's Gamma Knife Center.
Owens attends Locklin Technical Center and plans to become an electrician when he graduates in a few weeks.
Tickets to the 2017 Southern League All-Star Game are on sale now! Purchase tickets online at bluewahoos.com or visiting the Box Office. Orders can also be placed over the phone by calling 850-934-8444. The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are the Double-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a member of the Southern League. Follow the Pensacola Blue Wahoos at BlueWahoos.com, facebook.com/PensacolaBlueWahoos and twitter.com/BlueWahoosBBall.
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