CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Avoids Sweep With Ninth-Inning Magic

Published on April 30, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - With another tough one-run defeat as well as a three-game series sweep staring them in the face, the Wilmington Blue Rocks rallied past the Frederick Keys, 2-1, at Frawley Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. The Rocks got two of their four total hits on the game and plated both runs in the bottom of the ninth to upend the defending league champions. It is only the fifth victory in 11 one-run affairs for the Blue Rocks on the season.

Down 1-0 entering the ninth, Derrick Robinson ignited the Wilmington comeback with a hard liner to left-center field to start the frame. Following a steal of second by the speedster and a strikeout by Chris McConnell, Joe Dickerson delivered the equalizer with a double deep to right field. After a Jason Burch wild pitch chased Dickerson to third, Kurt Mertins lofted a shallow fly ball to right that was caught by Brandon Tripp. Skipper Darryl Kennedy, coaching third base, aggressively sent Dickerson, who tagged and barely beat the right fielder's throw and snuck by catcher Matt Wieters.

The exciting finish and victory did justice to Wilmington starter Blake Wood, who showed flashes of brilliance in limiting the Keys to a run on just two hits over a season-high tying 6.2 innings of work. The righty fanned a career-best 10 batters without issuing a walk, but was on the hook for the loss prior to the winning rally.

Wood was perfect through the first five innings, with a leadoff double in the sixth by Brandon Snyder breaking the Frederick silence. The lone run allowed by the Atlanta, GA native crossed later that same frame, when pinch runner Todd Davison scored on a check-swing single to third off the bat of Danny Figueroa.

Right-handed reliever Tyler Chambliss (1-0) ended up with the win for the Rocks, tossing 2.1 scoreless, hitless frames. He yielded just a pair of walks.

Wilmington's offense was put in shackles for most of the day by Keys righty Jake Arrieta, who fanned eight men over seven innings. The TCU product faced just three over the minimum during his dominant stint and retired 11 straight batters between the second and the sixth.

Despite a series loss to the Keys, Wednesday's win gave the Blue Rocks a winning homestand at 4-2.

Wilmington hits the road for a four-gamer in Winston-Salem beginning Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. In the opener, the Rocks will send righty Mario Santiago (1-2, 5.52) against Warthogs lefty Aaron Poreda.

GAME NOTES

Blake Wood's 10-strikeout performance ranks as the most prolific for a Wilmington staffer in two seasons. The last Blue Rocks hurler to log double-digit Ks in a single outing was current Boston Red Sox righty Clay Buchholz, who fanned 10 during Game One of the 2006 Carolina League Northern Division Championship Series (September 6, 2006).

Josh Johnson continued his uncanny on-base streak to start the season by working out a second-inning walk on Wednesday. The Wilmington third baseman has now reached safely via hit and/or walk in all 17 games in which he's played.

With another 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball, reliever Tyler Chambliss has now held the opposition without a run over his last five appearances or 6.1 innings. He has allowed just one hit and is now 1-0 with 4 saves in that span.

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Carolina League Stories from April 30, 2008


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