CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Melville Shines in One-Run Win

Published on April 13, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Kinston, NC - As expected, Wednesday morning's match-up of Tim Melville and Drew Pomeranz made for a pitchers' duel. The Opening Day starters for the Wilmington Blue Rocks (4-2) and Kinston Indians (1-5) went pitch for pitch, with each man allowing just one run before the Blue Crew scratched out a score against the Kinston bullpen for a 2-1 win and a sweep of the three-game series. Melville (1-1) struck out seven over his six innings of work for his first win, while Kelvin Herrera and Kevin Chapman combined on three scoreless innings of relief to seal the victory.

Melville showed his moxie in the first frame. Tyler Holt worked a leadoff walk and stole second. After a Greg Folgia flyout sent him to third, Holt tried to score when Casey Frawley struck out and the ball got past Juan Graterol. Melville raced to the plate, received a throw from his catcher and tagged the speedster out at the dish. Frawley reached on the fielder's choice only to be picked off by Melville to end the frame.

Kinston's Adam Abraham homered for the third time in as many games to put Kinston up 1-0 in the second as Pomeranz dominated. The first-year pro retired the first nine he faced before Whit Merrifield walked at the start of the fourth. Alex McClure sacrificed him to second, but Merrifield was caught stealing at third. Consequently, Pomeranz faced the minimum through five frames.

Melville allowed just four hits, all singles with two on the infield, after the Abraham home run. His offense helped him out in the sixth. Graterol began the inning with a walk. A strikeout later, Adam Frost took his place on a fielder's choice. The utility man, seeing his first action of the season, then stole second and advanced to third on an errantly tall throw by catcher Roberto Perez. Merrifield followed with a single into shallow center for the Blue Rocks' first hit and run, tying the game 1-1.

Pomeranz got the hook thereafter. The former Ole Miss star struck out eight, walked two and allowed just that one unearned run on one hit over 5.2 innings. While reliever Brett Brach (0-1) closed out the sixth by stranding his inherited runner, Rey Navarro started the seventh with a triple down the right-field line against the righty. One out later, John Whittleman drove Navarro in with a groundout to first to round out the day's scoring.

Melville gave way to Herrera who hit 97 mph on the in-house radar gun and struck out three for a hold. Chapman also flirted with the mid-90s in a perfect final frame with two strikeouts for his second save in as many tries.

With their season-opening road trip in the books, the Blue Rocks enjoy a scheduled day of rest on Thursday before the home opener on Friday night. Lefty Justin Marks (0-0, 5.40) gets the start while piggybacking righty Tyler Sample (0-0, 1.93) is set to follow. The Potomac Nationals are expected to counter with southpaw Danny Rosenbaum (0-1, 3.60).

First pitch comes at 7:05 p.m. for the first Fireworks Friday of the season. Every Friday home game sports postgame fireworks at Frawley Stadium. The night includes an appearance by REGGY! The Purple Party Dude and the first 5,000 fans through the gates on will receive a 2011 Blue Rocks magnet schedule, courtesy of Fulton Bank. Fans can also enjoy an exclusive wine tasting in the new-look café, courtesy of Kreston Wine and Spirits. Admission to the tasting is $50, and it helps benefit Centreville School.

Broadcast coverage will begin 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:

Three of Wilmington's four wins have come by a single score.

After starting the season with a loss, the Blue Rocks have won four of their last five to claim first place in the Carolina League's Northern Division. After starting the season with a win, Kinston has lost five straight for the CL's worst overall mark.

Tim Melville (7), Kelvin Herrera (3) and Kevin Chapman (2) combined to strike out 12 men.

In five career starts against Kinston, Melville has gone 3-2 with a 2.45 ERA. He has held the K-Tribe to a .159 batting average including 31 strikeouts over 25.2 innings.

Catcher Juan Graterol suffered an injury while sliding into second base in the sixth inning. He noticeably limped off the field and was lifted from the game the next half-inning. Graterol put no weight on his right foot as athletic trainer Masa Koyanagi and pitcher Julio Pimentel helped him to the clubhouse between innings.

Kinston pitching faced the minimum in seven of the game's nine innings. That included five 1-2-3 frames.

Screaming school children made up the majority of the announced 2,317 in attendance.

The two teams combined to go 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. On the series, the K-Tribe went just 3-for-22 (.136) with runners in scoring position.

Batters four through nine in the Wilmington order went a combined 0-for-17.

With Adam Frost batting ninth and playing third base, every player on the active roster has played in at least one game.

Kinston stole two more bases in as many tries. Wilmington's opponents have proven successful in 14 of their 15 (.933) stolen-base attempts this season.

The day after the Blue Rocks and Indians needed three hours and 25 minutes to play a nine-inning contest, Wednesday's meeting required just two hours and 16 minutes.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from April 13, 2011


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