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Wilmington Blue Rocks

Smith Out-Dueled in Wilmington Debut

July 29, 2010 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and Will Smith's Wilmington debut on Thursday night was certainly something the left-hander could be proud of. Unfortunately for the Blue Rocks, Kinston starter T.J. House was just a little bit better as the K-Tribe grabbed a 2-0 win over the Blue Crew at Frawley Stadium.

It was evident early that House and Smith had the stuff necessary for a good pitcher's duel. Both retired the side in order in the opening frame. Smith, who came to the Kansas City organization from the Los Angeles Angels farm in a trade for Alberto Callaspo, set the first two batters he faced down looking on strikes. Meanwhile, House needed just five pitches to get through his side of the first.

From there, the two hurlers kept exchanging goose eggs with one exception. Kinston designated hitter Jeremie Trice opened the third inning with a bomb of a home run to left. He sent a 1-0 fastball soaring into the Kinston bullpen.

Even in the frame that he allowed Kinston's only run, Smith (0-1) still found a way to impress. With one away in the inning a two-base error in left field by Rene Oriental moved another potential run just 90 feet from the plate. But after issuing a free pass to Donnie Webb, catcher Salvador Perez caught the Kinston left fielder trying to steal second and Smith followed by inducing a soft grounder to third by Karexon Sanchez. The out left Bo Greenwell stranded at third base.

Smith finished his evening after seven sterling frames. The 21-year-old southpaw allowed one run on six hits while fanning four and walking just two.

House was just a bit better. The left-hander did not allow a single Wilmington runner into scoring position in his six frames. He also recorded four strikeouts and walked two, but yielded just a pair of hits to get the win.

It was House's departure that set up Wilmington's first true scoring chance of the night. Reliever Tyler Sturdevant entered the game in the seventh and allowed a one-out single to Perez. The Wilmington catcher moved into scoring position on Rey Navarro's soft chopper to first. That brought up Oriental, the hero of Wilmington's win on Wednesday. Oriental, who drove home the tying-run in the ninth and scored the winning tally in the walk-off victory, appeared to play hero again. He sent a line-drive single into right. But Abner Abreu got on the ball in a hurry and threw a one-hopper to the plate in time to cut down Perez for the third out of the inning.

Wilmington got another opportunity off Sturdevant in the eighth. A one-out single by Patrick Norris got things started. He then moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Christian Colon then popped out to shortstop and Wil Myers grounded out softly to second base.

In the ninth, Kinston added an insurance run on an error and two wild pitches. Chu Chen singled and then tried to get to second on a pitch in the dirt from reliever Harold Mozingo. Perez found it in a hurry and delivered a perfect throw to second base in plenty of time to nab Chen. But Navarro dropped the ball as he tried to apply the tag. After the error on Navarro, a pair of wild pitches allowed Chen to come around and score, putting Kinston in front, 2-0.

The Rocks got the potential winning-run on base in their half of the ninth. Ernesto Mejia opened the frame with a free pass off Kinston closer Cory Burns. Two strikeouts later Navarro and Oriental both came through with line-drive singles. It set the stage for Adam Frost, who was Wilmington's other hero on Wednesday. The third baseman came through with a walk-off single that afternoon, but on Thursday Frost whiffed to end the game, stranding the bases loaded. It was Burns' 18th save of the season for Kinston.

Wilmington looks for revenge as it hosts the K-Tribe again on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Reigning Carolina League Pitcher of the Week Bryan Paukovits (3-2, 3.73) toes the rubber for the Rocks against Kinston right-hander Joe Gardner (8-5, 3.14).

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

With the loss, Wilmington failed in its bid for the 200th win in franchise-history over the Kinston Indians. The Rocks enjoy a 199-157 record all-time against the K-Tribe. The teams have split their 18 meetings so far this year. The final two games of this series are the last two meetings between the teams this season.

T.J. House has owned the Wilmington Blue Rocks in 2010. The left-hander has made five appearances against the Blue Crew and four starts. In 27 innings pitched House has a 3-1 mark with a 0.67 ERA and 21 strikeouts against Wilmington.

Wilmington leadoff hitter Patrick Norris clearly wanted to be aggressive at the plate on Thursday. In three of his four at-bats Norris put the first pitch he saw in play, getting a single and two groundouts to third. He finished his night 1-for-4.

The seven innings pitched by Wilmington starter Will Smith equaled the longest outing of his season. The southpaw lasted seven frames on April 15 when he was pitching in the Advanced-A California League in the Angels organization. Smith has spent time at three different levels, and has pitched for four different teams and two separate organizations in 2010.

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