CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Lamb Loses As Late Rocks Rally Falls Short

Published on June 11, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Winston-Salem, NC - John Lamb surrendered the most runs he has allowed in a Wilmington uniform during his shortest start as a Blue Rock on Friday night in Winston-Salem. The result was a 4-3 Wilmington (29-33) loss at the hands of the first-place Dash (39-23).

Lamb (2-2), who lasted just five frames, was done in by a lot of deep counts, and one big Winston-Salem inning. The left-hander set down the Dash 1-2-3 in the opening frame, but ran into a brick wall in the second.

Despite getting in front of five batters with 0-2 counts in the inning, Lamb watched the Dash plate four scores. Winston-Salem used three straight singles to kick off the rally.

Seth Loman got things started with a grounder up the middle. That was followed by a liner off the bat of Ozzie Lewis, which knocked the glove clear off of Lamb's hand. Jason Bour loaded the bases with a poke shot that dropped in front of right fielder Nick Francis.

Lamb tried to bear down, fanning Kyle Shelton for the inning's first out. But Drew Garcia kept the heat on, and put Winston-Salem in front with his grounder through the hole near third base. Hoping to limit the damage to just a single run, Lamb fanned Justin Greene and buried Brandon Short in an 0-2 hole.

But the mid-season Carolina League All-Star got the better of the 19-year-old Wilmington starter. He skied a high fly ball to left field that just kept carrying. Adrian Ortiz drifted back, but eventually found his back to the left-field fence. Ortiz made a leaping attempt, but the ball bounced off the top of the wall. Short flew around the bases, as his triple scored three and gave Winston-Salem a 4-0 lead.

Meanwhile, the Wilmington offense was busy letting early opportunities slip away against Winston-Salem starter Stephen Sauer.

The Rocks saw their first two batters of the game single in the first, but a momentum killing double play followed. In the second, Wilmington put runners at the corners with two away before Patrick Norris bounced into an inning-ending fielder's choice.

Wilmington did get on the board in the third. Ortiz singled, stole second and went to third base on a Francis single. He then came into score on Eric Hosmer's sacrifice fly to the warning track in center field.

Over the next four frames Sauer shut the Wilmington offense down, retiring 11 of the next 12 batters he faced. The only man to reach, Francis on a lead-off single in the sixth, was cut down by another double play.

Finally the Blue Crew bats were rejuvenated in the eighth. Adam Frost beat out a soft grounder to third for an inning-opening single. He then circled around to score when Norris laced a triple into the right-center field gap. Ortiz followed with Wilmington's second sac fly of the night, pulling Wilmington to within a single run. After Francis struck out swinging, Hosmer tried to generate a two-out rally as he smoked a double into the alley in right-center. The highly-regarded prospect was stranded in scoring position however, as Jamie Romak fanned to finish the frame.

Both runs were charged to Sauer (5-2), who got the hook after Norris' triple. The right-hander finished his night having allowed three runs in seven-plus frames. He whiffed two and did not issue a single free pass.

Carolina League All-Star Gregory Infante entered in the ninth and set Wilmington down, 1-2-3, to pick up his ninth save of the season.

Wilmington will continue its eight-day seven-game road trip in Winston-Salem on Saturday night. Right-hander Tim Melville (2-6, 5.86) makes the start for the Rocks, while the Dash is slated to counter with fellow righty Nate Jones (4-2, 4.82). First pitch is slated for 7 p.m.

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Carolina League Stories from June 11, 2010


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