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Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Offense Fizzles in Loss

May 31, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - A lack of offense cost the Wilmington Blue Rocks the rubber match of their three-game set with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Sunday, as the Blue Crew dropped a 3-1 decision at Frawley Stadium.

Former Kansas City Royals farmhand Erik Cordier kept the Rocks at-bay for 6.1 innings. The right-hander allowed only one run on five hits, and struck out five. Cordier (2-2), who was the Royals' second round pick in the 2004 draft, went to Atlanta's system in a trade for Tony Pena Jr. He saved his longest outing of the season for his former mates.

Despite Cordier's success, Wilmington still had an opportunity to win the game late. Down by two runs in the ninth, Anthony Seratelli worked a walk to keep the game alive. Seratelli was in the lineup because everyday third baseman Mike Moustakas was getting the day off.

But down to his last out, and with an opportunity for one swing of the bat to tie the game, Wilmington manager Brian Rupp inserted Moustakas as a pinch hitter for catcher Ryan Eigsti. Moustakas could not come through however, as Myrtle Beach reliever Benino Pruneda broke the Wilmington power hitter's bat on the first pitch. The result was a weakly hit ground ball to third that Donnell Linares fielded and threw to second for the force, which ended the game. It earned Pruneda his second save of the season.

Wilmington finished the day with only six hits as a team. The Rocks had just three at-bats all game with a runner in scoring position. Their lone run came on Clint Robinson's solo homer to right to lead off the seventh inning.

The loss spoiled another solid start by Danny Duffy. Duffy (5-2) was near-flawless in six of his seven innings pitched. The problem was, he got victimized for three runs in the fourth.

Myrtle Beach, which had managed only one base runner in the game's first three innings, had four straight men reach cleanly in the fourth. Chad Lundahl opened the rally with a single, Freddie Freeman then walked. Lundahl scored on a single to right by Linares, which was followed by a Cody Johnson double that plated Freeman.

Then, with runners at second and third, the inning turned bizarre.

Benji Johnson hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Jeff Bianchi. Bianchi looked the lead runner back to third, and then caught Cody Johnson cheating too far from second base. He threw behind Johnson at second, where Johnny Giavotella immediately chased Johnson towards third and tagged him out. Then Giavotella tried to turn and throw back to second because Benji Johnson (the man who had hit the ground ball) was trying to advance into scoring position. Giavotella's throw sailed wildly into right field though, which allowed Linares to come home with the inning's third run. Jamar Walton, who was backing up in right field, tried to throw Linares out at the plate, but his throw went well over Eigsti's head. The play's second errant toss let Benji Johnson move all the way to third.

Duffy escaped the inning without further damage, but the Rocks had given too much ground.

Wilmington starts a brief three-game road trip on Monday as it visits the Kinston Indians. The Rocks will trot out a new piggyback combination, as Eduardo Paulino will start, and Rowdy Hardy will follow. Ray Liotta, who had been Paulino's piggyback partner up until this point, made a two-inning relief appearance on Sunday. First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE

Sunday's loss closed out the month of May for Wilmington. The Blue Rocks finished May 15-13. David Lough led the team with a .342 batting average during the month. The outfielder also ripped six extra-base hits and scored 10 runs.

Wilmington went hitless with runners in scoring position on Sunday. The Rocks ended the three-game set with Myrtle Beach a combined 6-for-31 with men on second or third. It was a big part of the reason why they dropped two-of-three in the series.

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