Sunday Split Makes For Series Defeat
Published on April 10, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release
Myrtle Beach, SC - A pair of one-run games equaled plenty of drama as the Wilmington Blue Rocks (1-2) split an impromptu double-dip against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (2-1) at Coastal Field on Sunday afternoon. The opener saw the Blue Rocks follow through on what they started Saturday night in winning the conclusion of a suspended game, 7-6, in 11 innings. The scheduled nine-inning contest that followed featured three unanswered runs by the Pelicans in the late innings for a 4-3 defeat as the Blue Rocks lost two of three on the series.
On Saturday night, Rey Navarro swatted a solo home run to deadlock the game, 5-5. Minutes later, hard rains brought about the tarp, a 32-minute delay and ultimately suspended play with Nick Francis at the plate and nobody out.
When the teams resumed action, offense proved rare. Myrtle Beach's Kennil Gomez allowed just one hit over two scoreless innings while Kelvin Herrera did the same for the Blue Rocks including four strikeouts. In the 11th, Navarro sparked a rally yet again by reaching on an error against reliever Joseph Ortiz (0-1). A strikeout later, John Whittleman and Tim Ferguson collected consecutive RBI doubles for a 7-5 Wilmington lead. Ferguson's bloop hit sported significant hustle for the extra base, and provided a major insurance score.
Kevin Chapman (1-0) allowed a run on consecutive hits, a fielder's choice and an error in the bottom half of the inning. However, the southpaw settled and induced a Leury Garcia groundout to first, stranding the tying tally at second and icing the victory.
South Carolina native Whit Merrifield began the Saturday's game with a first-pitch bunt single for his first hit as a Blue Rock. Navarro singled him to third and Francis sent the former Gamecock home with an RBI double to right for a 1-0 Wilmington lead.
Travis Adair tied the contest with a solo homer to right in the second against starter Tyler Sample. However, the first home run allowed by Wilmington pitching would quickly be followed by the first batted dinger for the club. In the fourth, Jose Bonilla displayed great patience in turning an 0-2 count into a walk. Joey Lewis made that free pass matter when he blasted starter Robbie Erlin's next pitch over the fence in left-center for a 3-1 margin.
In the fifth inning, shortstop Alex McClure walked, took second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a fly-ball out and scored on a second wild pitch by reliever Kasey Kiker to make it 4-1.
The lead came crashing down thanks to the longball the very next half frame. Santiago Chirino reached on a Lewis error, Jared Bolden struck out and Garcia took Chirino's place on a fielder's choice. Chirino stole second and third while Ryan Strausborger walked to end Sample's night. Sample's successor, southpaw Justin Marks, surrendered an RBI single to Chris McGuiness before Mike Olt belted an impressive three-run homer to left-center for a 5-4 Wilmington deficit.
Marks would settle from that point forward. After Jared Prince reached on an error, Marks retired 10 straight Pelicans to conclude his outing. The 5-4 margin held until Navarro's fourth hit of the night tied the contest.
In the scheduled tilt, prized prospect Jake Odorizzi dazzled in his first start since he was received in the Zack Greinke trade. Displaying a lively fastball with pinpoint accuracy, Odorizzi struck out six men over four innings of one-run ball. He allowed four hits and just one walk in that time before he departed with a 2-1 lead.
Both of those support runs crossed in the third. Lewis scored from third base on a wild pitch and Navarro tripled in the second score. Olt and Vinny DiFazio bookended a Jared Prince strikeout with a pair of doubles for the Pelicans' fourth-inning run against Odorizzi.
Myrtle Beach starter Barret Loux departed the game with a man on and one out in the sixth, giving way to lefty Chad Bell. Whittleman welcomed the southpaw with a walk and Ferguson followed with an RBI single to right for a 3-1 margin.
That would be the Blue Rocks' final hit on the day as Bell combined with Tyler Tufts (2-0) to retire 11 of the final 12 Wilmington hitters. During that time, the Pelicans scratched out three runs against reliever Brendan Lafferty (0-1).
A repeating lefty, Lafferty set down the first seven he faced. Then, in the seventh, Adair's bunt single combined with two wild pitches and an error that plated Adair to make it 3-2. The next inning, a third wild pitch scored Strausborger from third and DiFazio's RBI single to right sent Olt home to produce Wilmington's first deficit of the day, 4-3. Juan Graterol, Lewis and Carlo Testa then went down in order in the ninth.
The Blue Rocks' six-game sojourn shifts to Kinston, NC on Monday night as the team opens a three-game set against the Indians. Cuban defector Noel Arguelles makes his stateside debut for the Blue Crew while right-hander Michael Mariot follows as a piggyback reliever. Kinston is scheduled to toss southpaw Giovanni Soto with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. Broadcast coverage will begin with the Rocks Report Pre-game Show, presented by Wawa, at 6 p.m. with studio host Adam Dobrowolski on 89.7 WGLS-FM and online at wgls.rowan.edu.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Nick Francis registered two more outfield assists on Saturday night and another Sunday afternoon, bringing his total to four through three games on the young season. Much like his dime from Friday night, both of Saturday's efforts came courtesy of greedy runners attempting to turn singles into doubles. Catcher Zach Zaneski became the first victim in the second inning while first baseman Chris McGuiness saw his advancement to second quelled by Francis' arm in the fourth. On Sunday, Francis threw Olt out at the plate when he tried to score from second on a base hit in the second inning.
Tyler Sample lasted 4.2 innings in his Advanced-A debut. The tall right-hander allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits and four walks. He struck out two and was called for a balk.
Rey Navarro has already hit for a cycle on the season. Over the three-game series, the second baseman went 7-for-12 with a double, a triple, a homer, two RBIs, three runs scored, two walks, no strikeouts. He owns a very small-sample-sized OPS of 1.726.
Seven of the 13 runs in the first game came via home runs.
The Pelicans used seven pitchers over two days for the 11-inning opener.
Kelvin Herrera hit 98 mph on the in-house radar gun multiple times.
Myrtle Beach starter Robbie Erlin (93rd overall) was the pick after Wilmington's Justin Marks in the third round of the 2009 June draft.
One night after combining for just one walk as a team, the Blue Rocks produced nine in the opener including three by catcher Jose Bonilla.
Carolina League Stories from April 10, 2011
- Rally 'Cats Fall Short in Extras - Hill City Howlers
- Dramatic Finish Gives Salem First Victory - Salem RidgeYaks
- Sunday Split Makes For Series Defeat - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Double Dip Split Between Keys and Sox - Frederick Keys
- Pelicans Win Wild Weekend Set Over Wilmington - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- P-Nats Walk off Winners for First Win - Potomac Nationals
- Gac Blast Powers Dash to Series Win - Winston-Salem Dash
- Winston-Salem Slips by Kinston 4-2 - Kinston Indians
- Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes - Winston-Salem Dash
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Hill City Howlers
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