CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rout Win & Narrow Loss In Doubleheader Split

Published on April 23, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Winston-Salem, NC - Extra-base hits made all the difference as the Wilmington Blue Rocks (10-5) split a doubleheader with the Winston-Salem Dash (7-8) at BB&T Ballpark on Saturday night. The Blue Crew belted six extra-base knocks in a 10-2 rout before falling on a walk-off homer in an extra-inning nightcap, 3-2.

Few would have forecasted the run barrage in the opener as neither starting pitcher had allowed a run over two starts apiece entering the night. Both saw a run cross in the first inning.

Whit Merrifield walked to start the game, went to third on a Deivy Batista single and scored on a subsequent double play off the bat of Rey Navarro for a 1-0 lead against Cameron Bayne (2-1). Winston followed a similar script as Daniel Wagner singled, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch by Noel Arguelles and scored on Ian Gac's RBI single for a 1-1 deadlock through an inning of play.

Both hurlers locked in as neither team put another man on base until the fifth. That frame, the Blue Crew scored four runs on four hits including a three-run double by Merrifield that made it 5-1.

Arguelles saw three straight men reach on back-to-back hits and a hit batter before he got the hook with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning. Michael Mariot allowed just one of the men to score on a Daniel Wagner single before Batista and Navarro displayed solid reflexes and teamwork in turning a quick 4-6-3 double play against Jose Martinez to end the inning.

The 21-year-old Arguelles allowed two runs on four hits and no walks over 4.1 innings. The Cuban defector struck out four while Mariot (3-0) secured the win with 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Consecutive doubles by Nick Francis and John Whittleman resulted in a run to start the sixth, chasing Bayne in the process. Reliever Orlando Santos then induced a groundball out before Jose Bonilla homered, his second of the year, for an 8-2 score. Navarro's RBI double and a sac fly by Tim Ferguson rounded out the scoring in the seventh.

Game two belonged to Wilmington and star right-hander Jake Odorizzi early on. The former top-overall prospect for the Brewers had a run in his favor before he even took the hill when Francis doubled in Alex McClure. Odorizzi then bookended strikeouts around a weak groundout in the bottom of the inning and was off to a career night.

Francis added a solo homer in the third to cap off a lengthy 12-pitch plate appearance. The right fielder fouled off five straight two-strike pitches in extending his time at the dish against starter Joe Serafin. Alas, the Blue Rocks would not register another base hit nor push another runner beyond second base on the night.

For awhile, it did not seem to matter as Odorizzi cruised. Through five frames, he had a two-hit shutout in progress. Then came the sixth. Martinez began things with a single to left-center. A pop out later, Ian Gac slammed a game-tying homer to right, his team-leading sixth of the year. Odorizzi would finish the inning, capping it off by tying his career-high mark for strikeouts in a game when he got Austin Yount, the nephew of Robin, looking for his 10th whiff of the evening.

Kelvin Herrera (1-1) relieved Odorizzi to start the seventh. The hard-throwing righty surrendered consecutive two-out singles to short, but rebounded with a pop to first off the bat of Martinez. Tied through seven, extra innings were required. However, they didn't need that much longer to decide the game's finish.

Former LSU football star Jared Mitchell worked a full count to start the eighth before he sent a high fly ball to center field that cleared the fence for a walk-off home run, his second dinger of the season and a 3-2 finish. Reliever Ryan Kussmaul (3-0) got the win with three scoreless and hitless innings, striking out four and walking none.

The four-game series concludes Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Wilmington right-hander Elisaul Pimentel (1-0, 7.56) faces fellow righty Justin Collop (0-1, 4.76). Broadcast coverage begins at 1:30 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.

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Carolina League Stories from April 23, 2011


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