CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Blue Rocks Record Nine Extra-Base Hits in Rout

Published on August 14, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Wilmington, DE - For the Salem Sox, you could call Saturday night "Blue Rock Bottom."

Salem's mid-August slide stretched to seven losses in its past eight games with an 11-0 Blue Rock bombardment at Frawley Stadium. The Blue Rocks led 1-0 after one, 5-0 after two, and 8-0 after three, then added three more in the seventh to bring the ultimate carnage to 11-zip. Wilmington outhit Salem 12-3, with nine of their 12 hits going for extra bases. Meanwhile, no Salem baserunner reached third the entire night against the trio of Blue Rock hurlers.

The tone was set early, as Wilmington's leadoff man reached on a fielding error by Ronald Bermudez, when Bermudez dropped a fly ball in left-center. Advancing all the way to third, Adrian Ortiz scored on a sac fly to make it 1-0. Though the run was unearned against Salem starter Michael Lee, it was an ominous precursor of what was to come.

In the second inning, Lee began the frame with consecutive strikeouts. One pitch away from striking out the side, Lee surrendered a line-drive triple to right-center by Patrick Norris. Ortiz and Christian Colon followed with a pair of singles before Wil Myers crushed his first Carolina League homer, a two-run blast that made it 5-0. Myers' dinger also came on a two-strike pitch, as Lee repeatedly inched within one strike of K-ing the side, yet came up empty. Ernesto Mejia ended the big inning by grounding out to third.

But in the third, the onslaught continued. Nick Francis doubled to begin the inning, Salvador Perez singled to give Wilmington runners at the corners, and Rey Navarro, a strikeout victim the first trip through the lineup, laced a double into the gap that cleared the bases and gave the Rocks a 7-0 lead. Lee was chased from the game after facing three batters in the third, and was charged with eight runs (seven earned) in two plus innings after Will Latimer allowed his inherited runner to also score.

Latimer contained the damage and recorded three innings without allowing any of his own runners to score, but Cesar Cabral yielded three more to the Rocks in the seventh, giving up three more doubles to the Rocks. Wilmington finished the night with seven doubles, one triple, and the Myers homer.

While Wilmington's offense raked, lefty starter Will Smith pitched like a prince, tossing seven scoreless innings in his fourth start for the Blue Rocks. Brendan Lafferty and Manauris Baez each tossed a perfect frame in relief to preserve the shutout.

Salem fell into second place behind Winston-Salem with the 11-run loss, yet remained in a tie with Myrtle Beach for the final playoff spot in the Southern Division.

The Red Sox aim to salvage the series finale against the Blue Rocks on Sunday afternoon, sending Mark Holliman to the mound opposite Tim Melville. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 in the final regular season meeting between the Sox and the Rocks. Salem enters Sunday with a 12-7 record against Wilmington, yet the Blue Rocks have won the last four meetings between the two clubs.

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Carolina League Stories from August 14, 2010


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