CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks slug 5 homers in 9th straight win

August 3, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Winston-Salem, NC - A franchise-record-tying five dingers carried the Wilmington Blue Rocks to an 11-3 victory over the Winston-Salem Dash on Monday night at Wake Forest Baseball Park. It marked Wilmington's ninth consecutive triumph, something the Blue Crew had not accomplished since 1999.

The Rocks' offense did not take long to ignite. After Winston-Salem starter Gregory Infante recorded two quick outs in the opening inning, he walked Mike Moustakas and Nick Van Stratten to put two men on for Eric Hosmer. The 19-year-old first baseman came through with the first home run of his Blue Rocks career. His three-run homer to right-center opened what would prove to be an avalanche of offense.

The Rocks added another score in the second. Ryan Eigsti smacked a one-out double, moved to third on Anthony Seratelli's bloop-single to right, and came home on Derrick Robinson's fielder's choice groundball to short.

Wilmington kept the hits coming in the third, as Nick Van Stratten left the yard with a solo home run to right. The Rocks would add three more tallies in the fourth courtesy of another long ball.

Chase Fontaine began the frame with a double that was followed by a Paulo Orlando single. With runners at the corners, Van Stratten was thrown out at the plate on a soft grounder off the bat of Eigsti. But Seratelli more than made up for it as he launched a three-run homer over the right-field fence which gave the Blue Crew a 8-0 advantage.

For Seratelli, who finished the night 2-for-4 with three RBIs and now has hits in 23 of the last 28 games, it was his third home run of the year. It was also his first away from the pitcher-friendly confines of Frawley Stadium.

After finally being kept off the board in the fifth, Robinson restarted the Rocks' attack. The center fielder hit his second home run in two games after going almost two full years as a Blue Rock with none. His two-run, no-doubt-about-it shot to right-center gave the Rocks a 10-1 advantage.

The offense was obviously a catalyst for said lead, but another big part of it was the pitching performance of Alex Caldera. The right-handed Wilmington starter kept the Dash off the board over his first four frames, and ended up surrendering three runs (two earned) over five-plus frames to earn the win.

Caldera (4-8) clearly wore down at the end of his outing though, allowing a run in the fifth and loading the bases with no outs in the sixth, before getting the hook. Ray Liotta entered out of the bullpen, and although he allowed two of the inherited runners to come home, he got outs against each of the three batters he faced and kept the Wilmington lead at seven as the frame ended.

Fittingly enough, the night came to a close with one more offensive assault. Johnny Giavotella, who entered the final frame as the only position player in the Blue Rocks lineup without a hit, scraped the top of the fence with a homer to left field. It was Giavotella's third home run of the season and it capped the scoring.

Four Blue Crewers enjoyed multi-hit games, while three players drove in three runs.

The three-game series continues on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Wilmington right-hander Mario Santiago (5-11, 4.26) will oppose fellow righty Jacob Rasner (3-2, 3.70).

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Carolina League Stories from August 3, 2009


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