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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Equal Season-High with Seventh Straight Win

May 22, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - Three consecutive two-out hits in the bottom of the eighth inning broke up a tie game and earned the Wilmington Blue Rocks a 3-1 win over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Sunday at Frawley Stadium. The victory completed a three-game sweep of the Pelicans and helped Wilmington equal its longest winning streak of the season at seven games.

The late magic started with two down and nobody on against Myrtle Beach starter Joe Wieland. The right-hander had been keeping the Rocks' offense at-bay all afternoon long, but allowed a soft liner off the bat of Whit Merrifield to carry into shallow center field for a single. That put Wieland (4-3) at his pitch-limit, and forced the Pelicans to their bullpen.

Joseph Ortiz entered the game, and Merrifield wasted little time moving into scoring position with an immediate swipe of second. Carlo Testa then came through with the biggest knock of the day, a line-drive single back through the box that plated Merrifield and gave Wilmington the lead for good. Rey Navarro followed with some insurance sending a run-scoring double down the left-field line.

The scores were held up in the ninth by Michael Mariot, who had another sensational day on the bump for the Blue Crew. Mariot (5-0) entered the contest for starter Noel Arguelles with two outs and two men on in the sixth. He promptly took one pitch to escape the jam unscathed, inducing a pop out to catcher Juan Graterol.

The right-hander worked around a lead-off walk in the seventh, and stranded a runner in scoring position in the eighth. He set the Pelicans down in order in the ninth to earn the win.

Arguelles did not pitch poorly in his own right. The southpaw pitched into the sixth inning for the fourth time in 2011, fanning five while allowing just one run on six hits. His counterpart took the tough-luck loss, allowing two scores on seven hits but fanning 10 and walking none in 7.2 innings pitched.

The Pelicans scored the day's first run in the second inning courtesy of three singles in the frame. Santiago Chirino's soft liner to right scored Mitch Hilligoss and made it, 1-0. Wilmington had an answer in the third. Graterol opened the frame with a single and then came into score on Testa's two-out two-bag knock to left-center. Wilmington almost took the lead one batter later, but Testa was gunned down at the plate by Ryan Strausborger on Navarro's single to left.

The Rocks welcome the Frederick Keys to town for the first of a three-game set on Monday at 6:35 p.m. Elisaul Pimentel (3-1, 4.23) hits the hill for Wilmington against Frederick southpaw Nathan Moreau (3-3, 4.41). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:05 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.

It is a Dollar Monday presented by TD Bank. Fans can buy one ticket and get a second for just one dollar. In addition, every Monday home game is a Dollar Dog Night, courtesy of Dietz & Watson. For tickets call 302-888-BLUE or visit bluerocks.com

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Carlo Testa continues to excel in the two-spot of manager Brian Rupp's batting order. Testa went 2-for-4 on Sunday with a double and two RBIs. The outfielder pummeled the Pelicans going 7-for-13 with four extra-base knocks and six RBIs in the three-game sweep of Myrtle Beach. Since being elevated to second in the lineup, Testa is hitting .358 (19-for-53) with 10 extra-base hits and 11 RBIs in 14 games.

The victory gave Wilmington its fifth sweep of a series in 2011. Last year's team managed just three sweeps all season.

With the win on Sunday, Wilmington moved to a season-best 10 games above .500. The Rocks lead the league in overall record at 26-16 (.619) and home winning percentage with its 13-5 mark (.722).

The Blue Rocks have finished with a clean sheet in six straight games. The team had not played error-free baseball in that many consecutive contests since an eight-game run from June 2-9, 2009. Myrtle Beach committed six errors over the weekend.

The Blue Rocks own a 20-6 record against Southern Division competition in 2011. They have not lost a series to a Southern foe since dropping two of three against the Kinston Indians at Frawley Stadium from April 18-20. Wilmington has a winning record against every CL south opponent.

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