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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Claim Victory In Playoff Opener

September 9, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Lynchburg, VA - An opportunistic second inning saw the Wilmington Blue Rocks plate four early runs and the Carolina League's best pitching staff took the baton from there en route to a 7-1 victory over the Lynchburg Hillcats in Game One of the Northern Division Championship Series on Wednesday night.

The Rocks took it one bag at a time on their way to the big second inning, as they used five singles and a pair of Lynchburg errors to plate the four runs.

Eric Hosmer led off the frame with a fisted line-drive single into left. That was followed by a sharp grounder to short off the bat of Nick Van Stratten. What looked like a potential double-play ball instead turned into an error on shortstop Jordy Mercer that gave the Rocks two men on with nobody out.

That began Lynchburg's downward spiral as Jamar Walton lined a seeing-eye single into left that scored Hosmer. On the play outfielder Alex Presley's throw to the infield went errantly wild, allowing Walton to scamper into second and Van Stratten to take third. After Ryan Eigsti whiffed for the first out of the frame, Anthony Seratelli lined one over Mercer's head for a single that plated Van Stratten, and made it 2-0.

Wilmington was not done though, as Derrick Robinson brought home Walton with a grounder deep into the hole at shortstop that the center fielder beat out for an infield single. Two batters later, Mike Moustakas capped the frame with a grounder past short that plated Seratelli, and gave Wilmington the four-run cushion.

From there the pitching staff took over.

Starter Eduardo Paulino (1-0) was brilliant. The right-hander allowed only a single score on four hits in 6.1 sterling frames to grab his eighth straight winning decisions over his last nine starts. The Rocks' Pitcher of the Month in August would not let Lynchburg establish a rally. He did not face more than four batters in any single inning.

The only real threat the Hillcats garnered against him came in the second. Jamie Romak led off with a walk, and Kris Watts followed with a single. But after Tony Sanchez popped out to Moustakas, Hague grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to retire the side. The Hillcats' lone run came courtesy of a one-out solo home run by Mercer in the sixth.

Paulino got the hook with one out and the bases empty in the seventh. He was replaced by right-hander Louis Coleman, who struck out Hague for the second out, but then ran into a little bit of trouble.

Alex Pressley smashed a double off the top of the wall in right, and then Jose De Los Santos beat out an infield single on a soft grounder to short. But Coleman shut the door when he set down Chase d'Arnaud looking on three straight strikes.

Wilmington opened things up with a three-spot in the top of the ninth. Seratelli began the frame with a just-fair triple down the right-field line. Back-to-back RBI hits off the bats of Robinson and Giavotella followed and Hosmer plated the night's final run with an RBI fielder's choice.

Lynchburg starter Justin Wilson (0-1) took the loss. The left-hander allowed four runs (only one earned) in five innings pitched.

Game Two on the best-of-five set comes Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. at Lynchburg's City Stadium. All-Star southpaw Danny Duffy (9-3, 2.98) gets the start against lefty Rudy Owens (1-1, 3.86). The Blue Rocks did not see Owens who joined the Hillcats in early August after assembling a dominating year with Low-A West Virginia. Owens claimed South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year honors with the Power.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The Blue Rocks' last playoff win came in 2006 when Clay Buchholz struck out 10 Frederick Keys in a 3-1 N.D.C.S.-opening win. Buchholz would go on to hurl a no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox against the Baltimore Orioles the very next season. The Blue Rocks would drop the next two games to lose the then best-of-three series.

After managing just 15 hits total during a three-game sweep at the hands of the Potomac Nationals in last year's N.D.C.S., Wilmington pounded 11 hits as a unit during Wednesday's Game-One victory.

The win lifts Wilmington's all-time playoff record to 27-28 including a 13-13 mark on the road.

Eduardo Paulino has pitched into the seventh inning in 12 consecutive starts.

Wilmington went 58-18 during the regular season when scoring first, and was able to keep that trend going during the postseason when it preserved Wednesday's early lead.

Wilmington has now taken 10 consecutive games from the Lynchburg Hillcats. The Rocks' last loss to the Hillkitties came on July 7. Overall in 2009 Wilmington has taken 16 of 21 from Lynchburg.

Jamar Walton left the game after grounding out to third base in the sixth inning. Walton fell to the ground in pain after running through the bag. He walked off the field under his own power, but with a noticeable limp, and was replaced in the field during the next half-inning by Luis Del Rosario.

The only other negative for Wilmington on Wednesday derived from their inability to make contact consistently off of Lynchburg pitching. The Blue Crew opposed its 11 hits with 11 strikeouts. Walton and Mike Moustakas were the only two players in the Wilmington starting lineup who avoided getting fanned.

Four Blue Rocks finished with multi-hit nights, including a 3-for-4 showing by Anthony Seratelli. Derrick Robinson finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.

As it did all year, the Blue Crew delivered in the clutch. The Blue Rocks hit 5-for-14 with runners in scoring position while Lynchburg struggled to a 1-for-7 showing in that category. Including a four-game sweep of the Hillcats in late August, Wilmington pitching has held the cats to a 7-for-48 (.146) total with men in scoring position over the teams' last five meetings.

Elsewhere in the league, the Salem Red Sox earned a 7-2 victory over the Winston-Salem Dash in Game One of the Southern Division Championship Series. The Sox took an early 2-0 lead thanks to a home run off the bat of former Blue Crewer Brad Correll in the first, and never looked back. Rehabbing Major Leaguer Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed only one run over 6.1 frames to grab the win. Game Two of the S.D.C.S. is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday in Winston-Salem.

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