CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Late Rocks Rally Falls Short

Published on May 12, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks' bid for a three-game sweep of the top team in the Carolina League came up just short on Thursday night at Frawley Stadium. The Blue Crew tried to erase a late four-run deficit, but fell one tally short in a 5-4 setback at the hands of the Salem Red Sox.

Trailing, 5-1, entering the bottom of the eighth inning, the Wilmington offense came alive. Jose Bonilla opened the frame with a single to center, and one out later Whit Merrifield followed suit to put men at first and second base. Carlo Testa brought both men around to score when he laced a double into the left-center field gap. Rey Navarro failed to keep the momentum going with a soft grounder to first for the second out of the frame. Nick Francis tried to recapture the come-back magic with an RBI flare into shallow left-center. But the right fielder got greedy and was gunned down trying to leg out a hustle double. The Rocks went down in order in the ninth, and their rally was thwarted.

The ninth inning was much more indicative of how Wilmington looked throughout the rest of the contest. Salem starter Chris Hernandez faced the minimum through four. He then passed his first true test of the night an inning later when he pitched around a lead-off double by Francis.

The Rocks finally got to Hernandez (4-1) in the sixth. Bonilla singled and Deivy Batista then reached on an error. Both men tried to advance when Hernandez uncorked an apparent wild pitch, but a beautiful recovery by catcher Dan Butler led to Batista getting thrown out at second. Merrifield got the Rocks on the board with an RBI single up the middle. One out later Navarro singled, and Hernandez's night was done with two men on.

Tom Ebert entered out of the bullpen and stranded both Navarro and Merrifield when he fanned Francis to end the inning.

The Salem offense posted runs in four different frames. Three of the scores came against Blue Crew starter Elisaul Pimentel. Pimentel (2-1) allowed a single tally in the third and two more in the fourth. His outing ended after five frames, having yielded four hits and issued two free passes.

Bryan Paukovits allowed two scores (one earned) in three frames out of the 'pen. The right-hander also fanned four as he showed off better than normal velocity.

Wilmington opens a seven-game road trip in Potomac on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Right-handed prospect Tim Melville (2-4, 5.17) hits the hill for the Rocks. The P-Nats are slated to counter with righty Cameron Silk (0-1, 3.00).

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

John Whittleman's recent run of success came to a halt on Wednesday. The first baseman, who had gone 6-for-11 with two doubles, a triple and a homer in his previous three games, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the Rocks ' 5-4 loss.

Alex McClure's struggles continued during the losing effort. McClure went 0-for-4 and fanned twice on Wednesday. He is now in the midst of a 2-for-23 slump at the plate over his last six games. The shortstop also committed an error that led to an unearned run in the sixth. The shortstop has a team-high seven defensive miscues on the campaign.

Rocks' reliever Glenn Gibson made his 2011 debut in the loss. The left-hander worked a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the first and last batter he faced. Gibson missed the season's opening month on the disabled list with a bruised left hip.

Elisaul Pimentel turned in his second-shortest outing of the season on Wednesday. The 29th ranked prospect in the Royals' system according to Baseball America, went just five frames to earn his first loss of the year. Pimentel had not been yanked from a game that early since he last just three innings in his first start of the season.

Whit Merrifield continued to excel at the plate for Wilmington. The left fielder went 2-for-3 with a walk an RBI and a run scored. He has now reached base safely in 14 of his last 16 games played.

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Carolina League Stories from May 12, 2011


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