CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Big Hit Eludes Wilmington In 5-3 Loss

Published on April 30, 2007 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks could have used some of the late-inning clutch hits they got in Sunday's 7-1 victory against the Winston-Salem Warthogs. Instead, they took a step backwards towards the club that more closely resembles the worst hitting team in the Carolina League, falling 5-3 to the Frederick Keys in the opener of a four-game set at Frawley Stadium on Monday night. The Blue Rocks stranded a small nation on the game, leaving ten men on base, seven of them on either second or third. In addition, the Rocks managed just one hit in eleven at bats with runners in scoring position.

Starter Chris Nicoll (0-3) labored through five inconsistent frames, yielding four runs (three earned) on six hits with two strikeouts. His counterpart, Jason Berken (2-2), scattered seven hits, one run, and five strikeouts through five innings for his second win. Jason Burch navigated through the final two innings for his first save of the year.

On a night when the two teams combined to use nine pitchers, Nicoll forecasted the long evening with a bumpy first inning. Arturo Rivas smoked an RBI triple deep into the left-center field gap to plate Jonathan Tucker and draw first blood for the Keys. A lead-off double by University of Delaware product Pete Maestrales led to another run in the second inning under questionable circumstances. With one out and Maestrales at third, Mark Fleisher roped a hot shot at shortstop Valentino Arce, who was playing shallow in an attempt to cut the run down at home. Arce appeared to snag the low liner in the air, but then hesitated when field umpire Chris Mack ruled the ball had first hit the dirt. Arce's indecision allowed the run to come home from third and gave Frederick a 2-0 lead.

Two more runs came home against Nicoll in the third. The California native allowed an opposite-field double to lead-off man Blake Davis, who subsequently scored on Jake Duncan's one-out single. Then Rivas was at it again one batter later, plating Davis on a bloop double down the left field line for a 4-0 Keys advantage.

Wilmington got single runs in the third, seventh, and eighth, but it was the blown opportunities that characterized the night for the Blue Rocks. Three men reached in the third off Berken, but a Kila Kaaihue RBI single to shortstop was the only damage the Rocks could muster.

The fifth was a tough pill to swallow for the Blue Rocks, as they loaded the bases with one out only to see Miguel Vega strikeout swinging and Andrew Larsen - making his first start since being activated off the disabled list - pop out to short.

Trailing 5-2, the Blue Rocks mightiest chance to knot the game or potentially take the lead came in the bottom of the eighth, when right-handed reliever Daniel Lonsberry walked three straight batters to begin the frame. Keys manager Tommy Thompson promptly pulled Lonsberry, replacing him with tall righty Jason Burch. Burch gave up an RBI ground out to Arce and then fanned Jose Duarte for the second out. The inning was history when catcher Zach Dillon picked off a napping Bigler at second base.

Burch worked a quick 1-2-3 ninth to finish the game and earn the save.

The series between the Blue Rocks and Keys continues Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m., as Wilmington sends the right-handed piggybacking tandem of Daniel Cortes (0-1, 4.50) and Julio Pimentel (1-0, 3.00) against the top pitching prospect in the Orioles system, righty Bradon Erbe (1-0, 3.18).

GAME NOTES:

The ten men the Blue Rocks left on base was the third-highest total of the season. Wilmington stranded a season-high 15 in a 6-5 ten-inning loss at Winston-Salem on April 20 and 11 at Kinston on April 12.

Two hitting streaks entered Monday's game, but only one survived. Kila Kaaihue's infield single in the third extended the Hawaiian's streak to eight games, which ties Jose Darte for the longest on the season. Kaaihue finished the night 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Unfortunately, Miguel Vega said 'adios' to his five-game hitting streak, taking an 0-for-5 and leaving seven men on base in the process.

Jose Duarte etched himself back into the hit column with a 2-for-5 performance against Frederick. Duarte's fifth inning infield single snapped an 0-for-13 slide.

Wilmington grounded into two more double plays on the night. That makes it eight twin-killings in the past three games for the Blue Rocks.

Making just his ninth start of the season, Rocks backstop Cody Clark went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Of Wilmington's nine base hits, five of them were of the infield variety. Conversely, seven of Frederick's ten base-knocks were slugged for extra bases, including a pair of doubles by Maestrales.

The Blue Rocks bullpen cleaned up quite nicely on Monday night, allowing just an unearned run in four innings. Russ Haltiwanger worked two frames, allowing the only bullpen run on two hits. The threesome of Haltiwanger, David Humen, and Gilbert De La Vara combined to strikeout three batters and walk just two.

To make room for Andrew Larsen the active roster, the Kansas City Royals organization released outfielder Ethien Santana. Santana was hitting just .100 (4-for-40) with 14 strikeouts in 13 games this season. Larsen, a Valley Stream, NY native, started in right field for Wilmington on Monday.

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Carolina League Stories from April 30, 2007


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