CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Win with BIG Eighth

Published on May 23, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE- Less than 24 hours after outlasting the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in 15 innings, the Wilmington Blue Rocks used a little comeback magic on Sunday afternoon, scoring five runs in the eighth to earn a 6-3 win at Frawley Stadium

Wilmington's offense came alive in the eighth, when reliever Angelo Paulino walked consecutive batters with one out. Paulino exited and was replaced by Tyrelle Harris. The first batter Harris faced was J.D. Alfaro, who very nearly tied the game on one swing of the bat. He laced a liner down the left-field line, but it drifted foul by a matter of inches. Two pitchers later Alfaro went down on strikes. Juan Rivera kept the inning alive when he followed with a walk, loading the bases for leadoff man Adrian Ortiz.

Ortiz came through with a seeing-eye single that got through the hole on the right side, squaring the game. Norris kept the inning afloat with the fourth free pass of the frame off the arm of Myrtle Beach pitchers. Eric Hosmer followed with a soft bouncer up the middle that was fielded by Dan Nelson, but Norris beat the flip to second base, allowing the go ahead run to come across. Jamie Romak provided some insurance with a two-run single up the middle.

The Pelicans got off to a quick start thanks to a run in the opening inning. Cole Miles drew a walk to start the game. He then appeared to get picked off of first, but beat Romak's throw to second by a half step. Miles followed with a steal of third that allowed him to come home on Calvin Culver's two-out RBI single.

Wilmington was able to pull even in the third thanks some porous defense by the Pelicans. Rivera opened the frame with a routine grounder right to shortstop Ryan Barba. But Barba, who robbed the Rocks of three hits in Saturday night's 15-inning thriller, booted the easy play. One out later, Rivera went to second on Norris' floater that carried just over the head of first baseman Gerardo Avila for a single. After Hosmer popped out to third, Myrtle Beach starter J.J. Hoover appeared to bring the inning to a close when he induced a shallow pop off the bat of Romak.

But the prospect right-hander suddenly lost his concentration. Hoover moved off the mound to make the catch, but had the ball pop out of his glove and carom into foul territory. That allowed Rivera to come around and score, tying the game, 1-1.

Myrtle Beach reclaimed the lead two frames later. Miles sent a soft liner into right field for a one-out single, then used his speed to score on Nelson's RBI double which carried just past the reach of Jamar Walton in left-center field.

The Pelicans added an insurance tally in the seventh. Samuel Sime smoked a one-out single to center, and then moved to second when Norris bobbled the ball. He was plated one out later on Matt Daniel's single, which slipped just under the glove of pitcher Chris Dwyer, then bounced off of second base and into right-center field.

Dwyer took a no decision. The left-hander put together his fourth straight solid start, surrendering three runs on six hits over 6.2 frames. He fanned seven and walked none in the process. When he exited, he was on the hook for the loss, but the Wilmington offense took care of that in the eighth.

James Thompson (1-3) ended up with the win. The right-hander tossed 2.1 scoreless frames to grab his first victory in 2010.

The Rocks begin an new three-game series at Frawley Stadium on Monday night at 6:35 p.m. as they welcome the Frederick Keys to town. Right-hander Alex Caldera (3-2, 2.89) gets the start for Wilmington. Frederick will counter with southpaw Nate Nery (3-3, 3.86)

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Sunday's late heroics extended Wilmington's team-winning streak to four games when starter Chris Dwyer takes the mound. The Rocks have also won five straight games at home.

The Wilmington bullpen continued to dazzle. Rocks reliever James Thompson tossed 2.1 scoreless frames on Sunday afternoon. In the three-game series with Myrtle Beach, the Wilmington' pen did not allow a single run in 12.1 innings pitched.

When these two teams met in Myrtle Beach to open the season, the Pelicans scored 23 runs in four games. The Rocks pitching staff fared much better this time around, holding Myrtle Beach to a combined five runs over 33 innings in three games.

The win gave Wilmington its first series-sweep of 2010. The Rocks have taken their last two sets at Frawley Stadium.

Entering the eighth inning on Sunday the Rocks had been 0-20 when trailing after the seventh inning this season.

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Carolina League Stories from May 23, 2010


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