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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wild Pitches Lead To Wildly Disappointing Loss In Salem

August 30, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Salem, VA - A game that began as a crisply played pitchers' duel deteriorated into a back-and-forth thriller that ended very unpleasantly for the Wilmington Blue Rocks (78-54, 40-23) on Sunday night. The Rocks lost a late one-run lead to drop their third consecutive contest in a 3-2 setback to the Salem Red Sox. Despite the loss, Wilmington finished its eight-game, seven-day road trip at 5-3.

Even with the above .500 journey, Wilmington's lead in the Carolina League North still dwindled to just two games. The Potomac Nationals took a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning and then held on for dear life in a 7-5 victory over the Kinston Indians. The Rocks' magic number to clinch a postseason berth stayed at six games.

The Sox put together their game-winning rally in the bottom of the eighth. Ryan Dent led off the frame with his first hit in 13 at-bats since joining Salem. But after Wilmington reliever Louis Coleman (2-1) retired the next two batters, Dent stole second to move into scoring position.

The theft allowed Anthony Rizzo's single to right to score Dent. The knock came on a grounder that moved just past a diving Clint Robinson with the Rocks playing a no-doubles defense. Nick Van Stratten fielded it on a hard charge, but his errant throw home bounced away from catcher Ryan Eigsti and let Rizzo go to second.

Rizzo then took third with a critical stolen base, putting the winning run just 90 feet from the plate. Coleman followed with a wild pitch that allowed Rizzo to score, giving Salem the lead for good.

This all came after Wilmington had appeared to seize control of the game, going in front with a run in the top of eighth. Paulo Orlando opened the frame with a double to the left-center gap, and then went to third on Anthony Seratelli's bloop single to right. The left fielder would come across to score as Derrick Robinson struck out on a wild pitch that got all the way back to the backstop.

Salem scored the game's first run in the sixth inning. Jon Hee lofted a Danny Duffy pitch out toward left field. The ball bounced off the top of the fence, but went in the wrong direction for Wilmington, giving Hee his third home run of the year, and Salem a 1-0 advantage.

The Rocks had a response in the very next half-inning, however. Mike Moustakas worked a one-out walk off of reliever Armando Zerpa. Clint Robinson then followed with an excellent at-bat. Zerpa got two strikes on the Wilmington corner infielder, but Robinson responded by fouling several pitches off before lining one into right field for a single.

On the play, Moustakas motored his way to third. That allowed him to score on Van Stratten's sharply struck fielder's choice RBI. Van Stratten lined one back up the middle off of Zerpa that bounced right to second baseman Zach Borowiak. Borowiak flipped to the bag at second for a force, but the relay to first was not in time to retire Van Stratten.

The back-to-back rallies meant that neither staring pitcher would factor in the decision. Duffy allowed just the single score on two hits, and fanned eight over 5.2 frames for Wilmington. He was countered by Dave McKae, who tossed six scoreless innings, surrendering only two hits while striking out seven and walking none. McKae faced one over the minimum

With their final road trip of the regular season complete, the Blue Rocks return home for a seven-game homestand. It begins with a three-game set against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Monday at 7:05 p.m. Southpaw Michael Montgomery (2-1, 2.75) will face former Royals farmhand Erik Cordier (6-7, 3.70). It will be Family Faith Night at Frawley Stadium with a free post-game concert by Sum Of One. As always, the Blue Rocks invite their fans to participate in Baseball Bingo on Bingo Monday. Playing cards and instructions are available at the Customer Service desk on the main concourse. Prizes will be awarded to the early winners. Also, on a WSTW Music Monday, the Blue Rocks will have 90s Night at Frawley Stadium.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The Blue Rocks dropped three of four to the Red Sox over the weekend in Salem. The last time Wilmington lost a road series came in Lynchburg, May 15-17. All three setbacks on this series came in one-run decisions with two of those losses the result of an unearned run and the other coming in walk-off fashion.

Over their last 23 road games, the Rocks are 17-6. Five of those losses have come by a single run.

Wilmington's last three-game road losing streak came in May. The Rocks lost a pair in Frederick, May 9-10, and then after coming back home, dropped the first game of their next road trip to the Lynchburg Hillcats on May 15.

After taking six straight games from the Red Sox, Wilmington has now three consecutive contests with Salem for the first time all season. The Rocks won the overall season series with the Sox, 13-7, and posted a 6-5 record at Memorial Stadium.

Danny Duffy fanned six consecutive batters at one point during the fourth and fifth innings. The left-hander finished his night with eight strikeouts. That total was just two shy of his season and career high, which came on May 8.

Louis Coleman had not allowed a single run in his first seven appearances and 10.1 innings pitched as a Wilmington Blue Rock. But he surrendered two (one earned) to suffer his first loss at the Advanced-A level.

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