CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Six Two-Out Runs In The Ninth; Magic Number At Two

Published on August 27, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Myrtle Beach, SC - Defense had been the story of the series. After falling down 4-0 on four unearned runs thanks to three errors, the Wilmington Blue Rocks used a rare defensive miscue by their opponent to rally from a four-run deficit and post an 11-6 win in Myrtle Beach Wednesday night. Down 6-5 in the ninth with two outs, Pelicans shortstop Brandon Hicks threw errantly to first base after fielding a Jeff Bianchi grounder. That error allowed the tying run to score as the Rocks batted around in a six-run inning that saw seven straight men reach after the first two batters were retired by closer Nick Fellman (4-4). Jeff Howell knocked in the game-winning run with his fourth RBI of the night and reliever Aaron Hartsock netted his team-leading 11th win. The triumph cut Wilmington's magic number to two with Frederick and eliminated Lynchburg from playoff contention.

After a scheduled day off for travel on Thursday, the Blue Rocks return home to conclude their 2008 regular season with a four-game series against the first-half champs of the Northern Division, the Potomac Nationals. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE: Wilmington entered Tuesday night with a league-low 120 errors and a league-best .976 fielding percentage before making nine errors in three games between Tuesday's doubleheader and Wednesday's win.

The Blue Rocks snapped a four-game losing streak at Coastal Field and three-game skid overall. They finish the 2008 regular season 6-14 against the Pelicans, including 4-6 at the beach.

The teams combined to use 12 pitchers on the game. A contest that took 3:34 to complete, by far the longest nine-inning game of the year for Wilmington by nearly 20 mintues.

At 67-69 overall and 32-34 this half, the Blue Crew needs to win each of its final five games to finish above .500 both on the stanza and on the year.

The Blue Rocks went 4-3 on their seven-game road trip, sweeping a three-game set in Kinston before settling for just the finale in a four-game series at Myrtle Beach.

Wilmington earned its league-leading fifth win when trailing after eight innings. The Pelicans suffered just their third loss in 75 games when leading going into the ninth.

The win finished the Blue Crew's road record at 32-38 on the season, including 15-18 on the second half.

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Carolina League Stories from August 27, 2008


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