CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rally Rocks clip Red Sox, 9-7

Published on May 19, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Salem, VA - Break up the comeback kids. For the second time in four days, the Blue Rocks (19-19) rallied from a four-run deficit as they came from behind to defeat the Salem Red Sox (20-19) on Tuesday, 9-7. The Blue Crew banged out a season-best 17 hits in securing its sixth win in eight games. A fielder's choice and one of Salem's five errors on the night combined to allow Ryan Eigsti to score the game-winning run in the eighth. Reliever Ben Swaggerty (2-1) earned the win and closer Aaron Hartsock collected his league-leading ninth save with a scoreless ninth inning. Wilmington has returned to .500 and owns a 3-2 record through five games on its season-long 10-game road trip.

Down 6-2 after three innings, Adrian Ortiz began the charge by slicing the deficit in half with a two-out, two-run soft single to shallow left in the fifth. A Jon Hee sacrifice fly in the sixth made it 7-4 before the Blue Rocks ripped off five unanswered runs.

Former Blue Rock Zak Farkes errantly missed a Jeff Bianchi grounder in the seventh, allowing Derrick Robinson to score from third. The center fielder had doubled to begin the inning. Salem closer Derrick Loop (1-3) began the eighth leading 7-5 and promptly surrendered the advantage. Paulo Orlando tripled to right-center and scored on a Clint Robinson double to the same area. After Anthony Seratelli took Robinson's spot as a pinch runner at second, Eigsti dropped a sacrifice bunt back to the pitcher. Loop charged, gloved and threw tall to first, sailing an errant toss down the line that scored Seratelli and placed Eigsti at second.

Jamar Walton singled up the middle, however, Eigsti only went to third as Hee, the second baseman, made a nice snare of the bouncing ball on a deep-leaning run to keep it on the infield. Loop, who entered the game with a reputation for having a great pickoff move, turned the trick against Walton and the infield came in as Derrick Robinson batted. A groundball to shortstop Kris Negron gave the Red Sox exactly what they wanted, until Negron missed his throw to the plate and Eigsti scored for the Blue Rocks' first lead of the night, 8-7.

Swaggerty worked around a couple of singles in a scoreless seventh and bookended a pair of strikeouts around a comebacker in a 1-2-3 eighth before handing the ball to Hartsock. Eigsti knocked in Seratelli for an insurance run in the top of the ninth and Hartsock danced through danger in the bottom of the inning. Mike Jones began the inning with an infield single to second, allowing the tying run to bat. Former first-round pick Jason Place nearly made Hartsock pay, hammering a 2-2 pitch high and deep to left, but foul by a whisper. On the next pitch, a hard-hit grounder resulted in an around-the-horn double play. Catcher Luis Exposito then bounced a ball back to Hartsock who gloved it, but didn't realize its location, spinning around searching for the rawhide. It popped free and the California Baptist product pounced, firing to first in time to end the game.

Starter Alex Caldera left on the hook. The Opening Day starter allowed six runs on seven hits and one walk over four innings. He struck out five, allowed a homer and hit a batter. Four of the six runs against him scored on two-out hits. Soft-throwing submariner Rowdy Hardy allowed one run over a couple of bridge innings thereafter. The former Carolina League Pitcher of the Year gave up three hits and walked two.

The four-game series continues on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. Super southpaw Danny Duffy (4-1, 3.16) searches for his team-leading fifth win against home run prone right-hander Seth Garrison (2-3, 5.91).

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Aaron Hartsock has not allowed an earned run on the road this year over 8.1 innings. He has given up just two total runs (one earned) over 16.2 innings for a 0.54 ERA.

Six different Blue Rocks enjoyed a multi-hit night. Mike Moustakas set a new team-high by extending his hitting streak to nine with a 3-for-5 night. Paulo Orlando also went 3-for-5, tripling and scoring twice.

Ryan Eigsti drove in three runs on the game while Adrian Ortiz hammered home a pair of scores.

Ortiz entered the game as a defensive replacement in the fourth for David Lough. Lough was hit by pitch in the second and knocked over Salem catcher Luis Exposito when Che-Hsuan Lin gunned him down at home plate that inning. He stayed in the game, batting in the third and playing defense bottom three before Ortiz took his place in the fourth.

The Blue Rocks rallied from a pair of four-run deficits to win at Lynchburg on Saturday, 6-5. Just like Tuesday's triumph, they scored the game's last five runs in that contest as well.

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Carolina League Stories from May 19, 2009


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