CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Outduel Keys

Published on May 26, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - Unseasonably cool temperatures, blustery winds and superior pitching turned Frawley Stadium into a Dante's Inferno for batters on Tuesday night. Fortunately for the Wilmington Blue Rocks, Mike Moustakas can hit regardless of conditions, and the third baseman's eighth inning RBI double gave the Blue Crew a 1-0 victory over the Frederick Keys.

The Rocks' winning rally started after Jamar Walton and Adrian Ortiz led the inning off with ground outs. But Johnny Giavotella sparked a rally when he laced a single to left field. Frederick outfielder Kraig Binick then made a critical mistake.

As Binick went over to cut the ball off, it bounced away from him. When he went to chase it down he made matters worse by falling. Giavotella, who never stops hustling, easily reached second on the error, and was in scoring position when Mosutakas came up.

Another Frederick miscue led to the Wilmington run.

Ahead of Moustakas in the count, 1-2, Keys' pitcher Jake Stevens tried to paint the outside corner with a fastball. Instead he caught a little too much of the plate. The result was Moustakas slicing a ball down the left field line that landed just in fair ground. Giavotella scored easily, and Wilmington was in front for good.

The eighth inning events were enough to earn the Rocks a win thanks to two men. Danny Duffy and Kelvin Villa combined to hold Frederick without a run and to just six hits.

Duffy kept Frederick off the board for the second time this season. He shut the Keys out in Maryland for 6.1 innings on May 8. On Tuesday he was just as good, lasting six frames, surrendering five hits, and striking out five. But the lack of run support left the left-hander with a no-decision.

His loss was Villa's gain.

Villa (1-3) entered in the seventh and immediately made a mark by striking out the side. In the eighth, he faced the minimum when Ryan Eigsti erased a Pedro Florimon single, by the shortstop out at second on a stolen base attempt.

Then, after Wilmington took the lead in the eighth, Villa blew the Keys away with a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his first victory of the season.

Wilmington's win ruined a solid pitching performance by Frederick starter Brian Matusz. Matusz pitched seven shutout frames of his own, allowing only four hits and punching-out five. Stevens (2-1) took the loss.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Tuesday's win was Wilmington's second shutout of the season.

Each of those shutouts came against the Frederick Keys, and both contests featured starting pitchers Danny Duffy and Brian Matusz.

Both pitchers of record were teammates in the Carolina League in 2005 and 2006, but not with the Keys or the Blue Rocks. Kelvin Villa and Jake Stevens each spent time in the Atlanta Braves system, and for two years played for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

This was the Blue Crew's first contest without closer Aaron Hartsock, who was promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Villa pitched so efficiently that he finished the game, but Brandon Sisk was warming in the Wilmington bullpen ready to enter as the closer if necessary.

The pitcher's duel did cost a pair of Blue Rocks their hitting streaks. Adrian Ortiz's streak ended after seven games, while Ryan Eigsti's string of nine straight games with a hit came to a close.

On the other hand, two Blue Rocks had multi-hit games off of starter Brian Matusz. Jeff Bianchi's 2-for-3 performance improved his batting average to .316, good for ninth in the Carolina League. David Lough also had two hits and is fourth in the CL with a .336 average.

The victory improved Wilmington's record to 23-21. It is the first time the Rocks have been two games over .500 since they were 9-7 on April 24.

Despite winning 10 of 14 games since May 12, the Rocks gained only one game in the standings over that stretch on the first place Lynchburg Hillcats. Wilmington is still five games behind Lynchburg in the Carolina League North.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 26, 2009


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