CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Batista Blasts, Marks Deals in 1-0 Win

Published on May 20, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Salem, VA - Deivy Batista's first home run of the year came at an opportune time. His solo shot to left off Chris Balcom-Miller (3-1) made for the Wilmington Blue Rocks' only hit in a 1-0 win against the Salem Red Sox (21-17) on Thursday night. That single score stood up thanks to seven sterling innings by Justin Marks (2-2) at the start and a pair of dominant closing frames by Brendan Lafferty in saving the team's third shutout win of the season. The Blue Rocks went 5-2 on their road trip and swept the four-game set from the Red Sox. Salem went 0-7 on its homestand for the first time since June of 1982. Wilmington's win combined with a Frederick 14-6 loss to Potomac to vault the Blue Rocks into sole possession of first place in the CL North.

Two of Salem's first three batters reached against Marks. But the former University of Louisville star struck out Salem's top slugger, Reynaldo Rodriguez, and induced a comebacker from former Blue Rock Mark Wagner to strand both men. That started a run of 10 straight Salem hitters set down by Marks.

During that time, Balcom-Miller walked Carlo Testa with one out in the first, but promptly picked him off. The only other man to reach during the ranked prospect's six innings was Batista with his first-pitch-swinging homer to left, a no-doubt-about-it shot. Balcom-Miller followed that blast by retiring 10 straight Blue Rocks in paving the path for reliever Tom Ebert. The burly righty walked one and struck out two during three scoreless and hitless innings to keep Salem in the game.

Marks weaved through danger as Salem placed the tying tally in scoring position in each of the lefty's last three innings of work. Zach Gentile doubled with one out in the fifth, but never advanced. Kolbrin Vitek doubled to start the sixth before three straight outs followed including successive swinging strikeouts of Rodriguez and Wagner to conclude the inning. Wagner's at-bat proved exceptionally noteworthy.

With a 1-2 count, a black cat sprinted onto the left-field warning track. It sprinted along the track for several minutes as the Blue Rocks' outfielders attempted to corral it with no assistance from the Salem grounds crew. Eventually, Testa secured the feisty feline in his glove and managed to transport it over the side fence in right field so the game could continue. Marks' next pitch, a slider in the dirt down and away, finished off the man with Triple-A time to leave Vitek at third.

The final test for Marks came in the seventh, despite the fact that he retired the first two batters. Gentile singled to right and Delaware native Derrik Gibson's poke to center sent Gentile from first to third. One of the league's top-10 hitters and a ranked prospect, Jeremy Hazelbaker, struck out swinging thereafter to finish the frame and Marks' outing.

Marks struck out seven and walked two over a career-high-tying seven innings of three-hit ball. Lafferty began the eighth and retired all three he faced included two on one pitch. Wagner singled to start the ninth, but his subsequent pinch-runner, David Mailman, never left first. Lafferty struck out West Chester, PA's Peter Hissey and Michael Almanzar. Gentile's slow grounder to first ended the night.

The Blue Rocks return home for a six-game homestand starting with the first of three against Myrtle Beach at 7:05 p.m. on Friday night. Right-hander Tyler Sample (1-3, 2.51) gets the start against lefty Robbie Ross (5-1, 5.79).

Broadcast coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. as studio host Adam Dobrowolski brings fans the Rocks Report Pre-game Show, presented by Wawa, on 89.7 WGLS-FM and online at wgls.rowan.edu.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The Blue Rocks outscored Salem 13-2 over the series' final three games despite sending the minimum to the plate in 15 of their 23 offensive innings. Salem's pitching faced two over the minimum on Thursday night.

The Red Sox left eight men on base including four in scoring position.

Salem's eight-game home losing streak is the franchise's longest since 1989.

Whit Merrifield's 10-game hitting streak came to a close with an 0-for-4 night.

The Blue Rocks lead the league with 17 one-run games (9-8).

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 20, 2011


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