CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Drake Out-Duels Pimentel as Rocks Fall

Published on June 27, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Frederick, MD - It was an old-fashioned pitcher's duel at Harry Grove Stadium on Monday night. The Wilmington Blue Rocks offense could find no success against Frederick Keys' starter Oliver Drake, while the Keys did virtually nothing against Wilmington pitcher Elisaul Pimentel. Unfortunately for the Blue Crew, virtually nothing is not the same as absolutely nothing and the Keys earned a 2-0 win.

Frederick scored the game's first run during the night's strangest inning. The Keys used two infield singles and a pair of Wilmington errors to take an early 1-0 advantage. Kipp Schutz opened the frame with a soft grounder toward the hole at shortstop. Rey Navarro athletically circled around to glove the ball, but as he rushed his throw to first, the toss sailed over the head of first baseman John Whittleman into the Frederick dugout. Schutz went to second on the error and then advanced to third on Adam Donachie's fly ball to the warning track in right.

Pimentel followed with a pivotal strikeout and was within reach of escaping the jam unscathed until Brian Ward tapped a two-out roller up the third-base line. Deivy Batista charged, but an awkward bounce forced him to hesitate for an instance. The momentary lapse gave Ward the time to beat out Batista's throw for an RBI infield single.

Pimentel would retire the next 13 batters he faced. He finished his night after seven frames, having allowed just the one unearned run while fanning six and walking only one.

He gave way to Bryan Paukovits in the eighth, and the right-handed reliever was greeted by a solo homer off the bat of Dale Mollenhauer on his second pitch.

The long ball provided Drake with insurance he simply did not need. The Frederick hurler went the distance, fanning six and allowing only three hits in the process. Wilmington left two runners on in the first on a Whittleman fly ball to left. The Rocks then squandered Navarro's lead-off double in the fourth when it was followed by three straight outs. Drake was unhittable from there forward, retiring 25 of the final 27 Wilmington batters of the night.

The three-game set concludes on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Wilmington right-hander Tim Melville (6-6, 4.50) faces repeating lefty Nathan Moreau (7-5, 3.45). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:30 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:

The Wilmington Blue Rocks were the last team in the Carolina League to be shutout in 2011. The Blue Crew scored at least a single run in its first 45 games. Over their last 28 contests, the Rocks have been blanked six times. Only the Kinston Indians and the Potomac Nationals have failed to plate a run in more contests.

Whit Merrifield had another tough night at the plate. The leftfielder went 0-for-4 with three infield grounders and a strikeout. Merrifield is hitless in his last four games, going 0-for-14 over that stretch.

Elisaul Pimentel turned in a quality start for the sixth time in his last seven starts. The right-hander has suffered back-to-back losses despite the fact that he surrendered just two earned runs in his 13 innings pitched.

Oliver Drake tossed the first nine-inning complete game of his career. The Navy product had tossed an eight-frame complete outing in a loss earlier this season. The last time a Key had authored a nine-inning shutout was when Nathan Moreau threw a no-hitter for Frederick in his Advanced-A debut on June 30, 2010. Moreau will try to make it back-to-back blankings of the Blue Rocks when he faces Wilmington on Tuesday.

The Rocks lost for the fifth time in as many at Harry Grove Stadium in 2011. Wilmington has scored just eight runs in those five setbacks.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from June 27, 2011


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