CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Unstoppable Rocks Take Two From Winston-Salem

Published on August 12, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE- Not even rain can cool down the red-hot Wilmington Blue Rocks right now. The Blue Crew battled through a pair of extended rain delays, dreary conditions and a first-place opponent, to sweep a doubleheader from the Winston-Salem Dash on Wednesday night at Frawley Stadium. The Rocks took the opener, 5-1, and the nightcap, 1-0. Wilmington has now won 16 of its last 17 contests, and nine straight at home.

The Rocks grabbed game one thanks to a huge performance in the home fifth. Wilmington sent 10 batters to the plate in the frame, managed four hits and took advantage of one huge Winston-Salem error.

Jamar Walton opened the inning with a single to center. The Dash then failed to do themselves any favors, as Ryan Eigsti tried to sacrifice, but ended up with a bunt-single when catcher Logan Johnson and pitcher Levi Maxwell (4-12) both hesitated on whom would take charge on the ball. A balk then moved both runners into scoring position, leading to Chase Fontaine's walk, which loaded the bases.

That brought up Derrick Robinson, who grounded a ball sharply towards shortstop Greg Paiml. The normally sure-handed infielder had the ball bounce off his glove and trickle into center field, scoring a pair with his miscue.

From there, Wilmington would pile on. After Johnny Giavotella bunted into a fielder's choice, he and Robinson executed a perfect double steal to move into scoring position. That allowed Mike Moustakas' ground-rule double to score two, and make it 4-0 Wilmington.

After Clint Robinson was retired on a fly ball to center, Eric Hosmer capped off the game-changing inning with an RBI double to left.

The offensive output was more than enough for a Blue Crew pitching staff which nearly tossed a no-hitter.

Danny Gutierrez, who was making his first start of the season, also enjoyed his longest outing of the campaign. The right-hander was almost perfect over four innings. The only runner he allowed came on a two-out walk in the fourth. Gutierrez then gave way to reliever Carlos Rosa to open the fifth.

Wilmington was just four outs away from a no-no when Tyler Kun broke things up with an infield single in the sixth. Kuhn hit a hard groundball to first that Hosmer fielded cleanly, but Rivas (4-3) was late covering, and the Dash had their first hit of the night.

Wilmington would then lose its shutout in the final frame, as Rivas surrendered a two-out run-scoring double to Joe Persichina. But the reliever still pitched well enough to earn the win.

The nightcap was an old-fashioned pitcher's duel, as the teams combined for just eight hits overall.

The lone run came in the sixth, when Wilmington loaded the bases with one out off of starter Dylan Axelrod (0-1). The frame began with three consecutive bunts. A clean hit for Anthony Seratelli was followed by a sacrifice that failed to result in an out for Derrick Robinson when Winston-Salem tried to get Seratelli at second base. A clean sacrifice by Giavotella then moved the runners to second and third. Moutakas was immediately intentionally walked as a result to load the bases for Clint Robinson.

With his starter running out of gas, Winston-Salem manager Joe McEwing made a change, as he inserted reliever Charlis Burdie.

Burdie immediately jumped ahead of Robinson, who fell behind in the count 0-2 before fouling off three consecutive pitches to stay alive. He then worked the count full by taking three straight close offerings. On the payoff pitch, Robinson lofted a fly ball just deep enough into left field to bring home Seratelli, and give Wilmington a 1-0 lead.

The story though was starter Eduardo Paulino, who tossed the first complete game shutout of his career. The right-hander never let Winston-Salem get comfortable, as he struck out eight, walked none and allowed only three hits.

He was still going so strong in the final frame that the Dash barely made contact. He allowed only a weak fly to center, and fanned two to cement another Blue Rocks victory.

Wilmington will host the Dash for the capper of this three-day, four-game series on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. Wilmington will send opening day starter Alex Caldera (4-9, 5.78) to the hill, while Winston-Salem is slated to counter with its ace, right-hander Anthony Carter (10-5, 4.17). Off the field Wilmington will celebrate "Elvis Night." And after the game fans will enjoy fireworks courtesy of Bythezip.com.

For tickets call 302-888-BLUE (2583).

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The teams were forced to endure a 30-minute rain-delay in the second inning of game-one and a 42-minute pause prior to the start of the nightcap.

Wilmington has now won six consecutive games against the Dash. The Rocks last loss to Winston-Salem came in the front end of a doubleheader on June 21. The win in the opener clinched the season-series between the two teams in Wilmington's favor. Overall, the Blue Crew leads the season-set with Winston-Salem 11-7.

Over the first three games of this four-game set, Wilmington has outscored the Dash 16-2.

Nick Van Stratten went 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch in the game-one victory. As a result, the right fielder's 12-game hitting streak came to a close. He hit .381 (16-for-42) over that stretch. The 12-game streak equaled Mike Moustakas' 12-gamer in May, which is the high-water mark for any Blue Crewer in 2009.

The Blue Rocks pitching staff retired the Dash in order four times in Wednesday's doubleheader sweep. Over their last 58 innings, Wilmington pitching has recorded 28 1-2-3 frames.

Over his last four starts Eduardo Paulino is 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA.

Paulino's shutout in the nightcap was Wilmington's Carolina League-leading 13th of the season.

The Rocks earned their third doubleheader-sweep of the season on Wednesday. Wilmington is now 10-8 overall during twin-billings.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 12, 2009


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