CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes for August 5

Published on August 5, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


UNSTOPPABLE:When a team is hot it has the ability to win games in many ways. The Blue Rocks fall nothing short of scorching right now. One night after scoring a second-half high 11 runs and equaling a franchise-record with five dingers, the Blue Crew beat the Winston-Salem Dash with pitching and just a few timely two-out hits on Tuesday at Wake Forest Baseball Park. The 3-1 Wilmington win was its 10th consecutive victory, placing the Rocks just one shy of the longest winning streak in team history. Eight of the 10 wins have come by two runs or less.

PITCHING PROWESS:Pitchers Mario Santiago, Danny Gutierrez and Brandon Siskcombined to surrender just the lone score on three hits as the Blue Rocks shut the Dash offense down. After Santiago allowed a solo home run to Seth Loman to open the second inning, Winston-Salem's bats went silent. Santiago retired the final 15 batters he faced, striking out five and walking none over six innings. Gutierrez replaced him in the seventh and recorded five more consecutive outs. He issued a two-out walk in the eighth but struck out Kent Gerst thereafter. Sisk came on in the ninth to finish things up. The lefty picked up his team-leading 13th save by fanning two in the ninth, and surrendered only an infield single.

TWO-OUT HITTING:The Rocks put a pair on the board in the top of the fourth thanks to a pair of two-out RBI singles. With one out and his team trailing 1-0, Nick Van Strattenhit a double down the third-base line. After Eric Hosmer grounded out, former Winston-Salem star Paulo Orlandobrought Van Stratten home with a line-drive single to center. Orlando stole second and JamarWalton's grounder through the right side of the infield brought him home. In the eighth, Derrick Robinson's lead-off bunt hit combined with a fielding error to place the speedster at second. Two batters later, Mike Moustakassingled him home for his team-leading 66th RBI and an insurance run.

ROAD WARRIOR:Mario Santiagohas now won three straight road starts. The right-hander's ERAduring those outings is just 1.56. SISKYBUSINESS:Closer Brandon Siskhas proven himself to be a strikeout fiend during the late innings. His two punchouts in the ninth inning upped his bullpen-leading total to 64 for the season. He is averaging 12.2 Ks / 9.0 IP.

YOU'RE GETTING SWEEPY:The Rocks seek their sixth series sweep of the season and their third straight in tonight's series finale. Tuesday's win secured the team's sixth straight series win. Winston-Salem's lone sweep defeat came in a rain- shortened two-game series at Wilmington May 1-2.

BULLISH ‘PEN:The Wilmington bullpen added another three scoreless innings last night. Rocks' relievers have now allowed only one unearned tally in their last 28.1 frames of work. The pen has proven pivotal during the winning streak, as eight of the 10 wins have come by two runs or less.

ON THE RECORD:The franchise record for most games won in a row stands at 11, accomplished from May 23-June 6, 1996. That season saw the second of Wilmington's four Carolina League Mills Cup Championships. The league record is 16, set coincidentally by the 1950 Winston-Salem squad. The modern-day record (post-1960) is 14, set by Salem in 2006. The streak ended when Wilmington beat the Avalanche 4-1 on August 30 at Salem Memorial Stadium.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:The Blue Rocks held the Dash to just three hits on Tuesday - the Dash's second-worst performance of the season...The Rocks stand a season-high 16 games over .500 at 61-45...Wilmington played error-free ball after making a miscue its six previous games.

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