CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Bottom of the Order Leads to a Wilmington Win

Published on May 16, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Salem, VA - The bottom portion of the Wilmington Blue Rocks' lineup enjoyed one of its most prolific nights of the season as the Blue Crew (20-16) secured a 7-3 series-opening win against the Salem Red Sox (21-14) on Monday night. Batters five through nine combined for seven hits, four RBIs, two walks and four runs scored in the victory. Among them, Juan Graterol notched three hits, Deivy Batista drove in two runs and right-hander Michael Mariot improved to 4-0 with five innings of one-run piggyback relief for the win.

The bottom five men in the lineup all reached with one out in the second inning to grab a 3-0 lead. Graterol drove in a run with a single and Batista picked up his two RBIs with a double against starter Ryan Pressly (3-2).

The Blue Rocks batted around and chased Pressly in a three-run fourth. Batista bounced into a 6-4-3 double play that pushed across the Rocks' fourth run while also wiping the bases clear. Five straight men then reached with two outs.

Rey Navarro made it 5-0 with a run-scoring single and Tim Ferguson pushed in a sixth score by walking on a full-count pitch with the bases loaded that signaled the end of Pressly's night.

Southpaw Will Latimer let Salem hang around with 3.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief, including stranding the bases loaded in the fourth. During that time, Noel Arguelles danced through danger. The lefty allowed just two runs on seven hits and one walk over four frames.

With men at the corners in the first, he induced a critical double play off the bat of the league's leading hitter, Reynaldo Rodriguez, to end the inning. He worked around leadoff hits in the second and third but former Blue Rock Mark Wagner (2006) crushed a leadoff homer to left in the fourth. James Kang's RBI groundout made it 6-2 later in the frame.

Mariot nearly hurled a perfect fifth inning. With two outs, Graterol dropped a pop fly in foul ground to extend a Rodriguez at-bat. The former Yankees farmhand then reached on a Batista miscue before Wagner worked a walk. Mariot quelled any thoughts of a rally by inducing a fly-out to center off the bat of Shannon Wilkerson. He then sandwiched a perfect seventh and ninth around a one-run eighth en route to the win. Zach Gentile drove in the run with a single.

The four-game set continues at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday night. Ranked right-handed pitching prospect Elisaul Pimentel (2-1, 4.73) goes for the Blue Rocks against southpaw Chris Hernandez (4-1, 1.72). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:35 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.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Earlier in the day, John Whittleman received Carolina League Player of the Week honors. It marks the first time a Blue Rock has received a weekly accolade from the league office this season.

The Blue Rocks failed to homer for the 15th time in 16 games.

The last two innings were played through a steady rain.

Wilmington improved to 6-1 when the piggyback pair of Noel Arguelles and Michael Mariot pitches. Arguelles (2) and Mariot (1) logged a composite three wild pitches in the process.

Mariot has not started a single game all season, but stands tied for the second-most wins in the Carolina League and the most among all Royals farmhands.

Juan Graterol entered the game in a 3-for-26 (.115) funk since coming off the disabled list. He went 3-for-5 with an RBI on Monday night alone.

Salem's Ryan Pressly began his year 3-0 with a 2.59 ERA and .196 batting average against through his first five starts. He has lost consecutive nods since, both to the Blue Rocks, while posting 9.35 ERA and allowing the Blue Crew to hit .359 in the process.

Catcher Mark Wagner served as Salem's DH after joining the team from extended spring training. The one-time ranked prospect played in 17 games for the 2006 Blue Rocks when Wilmington was Boston's CL affiliate. The former UC Irvine star, who has reached as high as Triple-A Pawtucket in the Red Sox chain, went 2-for-2 with a solo homer, two walks and two runs scored in his first action of the year.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 16, 2011


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