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Wilmington Blue Rocks

Teams Exchange One-Run Wins

June 6, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - Offense was at a premium on Saturday night at Frawley Stadium, as the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Lynchburg Hillcats combined for only two runs in 16 innings of baseball, on their way to splitting a doubleheader.

The Rocks won the nightcap in dramatic fashion. With one out and runners at first and third base in the ninth inning of a scoreless tie, Clint Robinson pulled a ground ball towards first base. Lynchburg's Kent Sakomoto made a diving stop and fired home. But Derrick Robinson's speed beat the toss by a step, giving Wilmington a 1-0 victory in extra innings.

It was redemption for Clint Robinson, who came up during Wilmington's only other threat of game two, and failed to produce. The Alabama native struck out after Mike Moustakas laced a one-out triple to right in the fourth. David Lough then flew out to end the inning.

The Hillcats meanwhile managed only one rally of their own in the nightcap. Three Lynchburg walks loaded the bases with two outs in the second inning. But Moustakas saved the day with a diving grab of Joel Collins' hard hit grounder down the third-base line. Moustakas threw Collins out at first by a step, and trouble was averted.

Both starting pitchers were in lockdown mode. Wilmington's Danny Duffy allowed only two hits and struck out five in six innings. Lynchburg's Chi-Hung Cheng was equally impressive, surrendering only one hit in five frames of shutout ball.

The Blue Rocks' bullpen got two perfect innings from Brandon Sisk, and a 1-2-3 ninth from Juan Abreu. Abreu (2-1) was credited with the win. Lynchburg's Chris Cullen took the loss, allowing one run on one hit in just one-third of an inning.

The teams combined for only four hits and 10 base runners in the nightcap.

Game one also featured superior pitching, as Lynchburg took a 1-0 decision.

The Hillcats' lone run came with one out in the fourth inning on a Pedro Alvarez solo home run to right. It was Alvarez' 10th round tripper of the season, tying him for second in the Carolina League.

It was also the only blemish of Alex Caldera's evening. The Wilmington starter tossed a sterling six innings, allowing only the one run on three hits, and striking out five.

Alvarez was responsible for two of those hits. Besides the homer, he smacked a ground-rule double in the sixth that put runners on second and third with only one out. But Caldera (1-3) battled back, punching out Matt Hague swinging, and inducing a ground ball to third by Miles Durham, which kept the deficit at one run.

The only problem for Wilmington was Lynchburg's pitching was every bit the equal to what the Rocks offered. Hillcats' starter Ronald Uviedo (3-3) struck out six over five scoreless frames. He then gave way to Michael Dubee, who lowered his ERA to 1.48 for the season by avoiding damage in the sixth. R.J. Rodriguez then earned his 11th save of the year by not allowing a run in the seventh.

Wilmington and Lynchburg play twice more on Sunday, as game one of the doubleheader starts at 1:35 p.m. at Frawley Stadium. Eduardo Paulino (1-3, 5.60) takes the hill in the opener for the Rocks, while Rowdy Hardy (0-0, 4.91) makes his first start of 2009 in game two. Lynchburg counters with Bryan Morris, who makes his 2009 debut in game one, and former Blue Rock Paul Mildren (3-4, 4.82) in the nightcap.

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