CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Keys Cut Down Rocks Attempt for Sweep

July 17, 2010 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - Over the course of a 140-game season there are going to be days like Saturday night at Frawley Stadium. The Wilmington Blue Rocks let three different leads slip through their fingers as the Frederick Keys avoided the indignity of a four-game sweep with their 10-7 victory. The contest featured five errors between the two teams, lasted a robust three hours and six minutes and had about as much flow as an uphill river.

Wilmington enjoyed advantages of 2-0, 4-3, and 5-4, but the Rocks could not take full advantage of their opportunities, stranding multiple men in scoring position to allow the Keys to hang around.

Wilmington went ahead, 2-0, in the opening inning on consecutive RBI singles by Ernesto Mejia and Salvador Perez, but could have had much more. Wilmington loaded the bases with one out, but saw subsequent outs come off the bats of Jamar Walton and Rey Navarro to quell the threat.

Frederick then answered with two home runs in the second off Wilmington starter Danny Duffy. Billy Rowell blasted a two-run dinger to right field with one out, while Pedro Florimon followed with a high majestic long ball to left.

The Rocks regained the lead in the third thanks to big hits by Mejia and Walton. Mejia drilled a one-hopper off the left-field fence to plate Nick Francis, while Walton added an RBI single up the middle to score Mejia.

After each team got single tallies in the fourth, the Keys went ahead for good on the most dramatic play of the night, two innings later.

Frederick assembled a rally in the sixth inning off Rocks reliever Ivor Hodgson. With one out, the Keys put three straight men on base courtesy of a hit batsman, a single and a walk. After Kyle Hudson got the lead runner on third gunned down at the plate on a grounder to first, Hodgson appeared poised to work his way out of the jam.

Xavier Avery had a different thought in mind however. The center fielder sent a single into right field that plated a pair. Francis came up throwing in an attempt to try and prevent the second tally from scoring, but his throw home was cutoff by Mejia. He caught Avery cheating off of first base, and lunged to tag him out. The first baseman whiffed though, and the ensuing rundown gave Hudson, who started the play on first, an opportunity to circle all the way around and score. Frederick scored three runs on the play, giving the Keys a lead they would never relinquish.

Frederick added three more runs in the seventh. One came home on L.J. Hoes' RBI single, while two more came across on a Patrick Norris error in center.

Hodgson took the loss for Wilmington. The southpaw allowed three runs on two hits in two frames. Frederick reliever John Mariotti (3-3) grabbed the win.

The Rocks get Sunday off, before embarking on a seven-game road trip to Myrtle Beach and Kinston.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Despite the setback, Wilmington still earned a series-victory over the weekend, taking three-of-four from the Keys. Wilmington has won 12 series this season, and two against Frederick.

Ernesto Mejia's Wilmington Blue Rocks debut was a successful one. Mejia went 3-for-5, drove in a pair and scored twice.

Jamar Walton had a big all around night. He made three beautiful catches in left field, including one controversial grab. His running snare in the ninth inning got Omar Gomez ejected. The Frederick manager felt that Walton had failed to make the catch, but both umpires disagreed. At the plate Walton went 2-for-5 and launched his third homer of the campaign in the home ninth.

In his first Double-A at-bat, Eric Hosmer launched a game-tying home run. Hosmer had been promoted from Wilmington less than 24 hours earlier. The first baseman left the Riverfront, leading the Carlolina League in batting average, on-base percentage, doubles and extra-base hits.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics



Carolina League Stories from July 17, 2010


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