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Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Wiped Out by 10-Run 2nd Inning

May 5, 2010 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - A disastrous second inning did in the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Wednesday night. The Salem Red Sox battered the ball all over Frawley Stadium on their way to a 10-run frame and an 11-3 rout of the Blue Crew.

The 10 runs were the second most allowed in a single frame by Wilmington pitching in franchise history. Salem got eight of them against Blue Crew starter Jairo Cuevas (2-3) and then added two more for good measure off of reliever Manauris Baez.

Salem, which actually went down 1-2-3 in the opening frame, sent 14 men to the plate in its awe-inspiring inning, and smashed three home runs. Things began in style, as the first four Red Sox who stepped into the batter's box reached safely.

Ryan Lavarnway began the onslaught with a walk. That was followed by a two-run titanic blast off the signage just to the side of the scoreboard in left field by Will Middlebrooks.

Oscar Tejeda followed with an even more impressive solo shot to left. This one cleared both levels of signage near the visiting bullpen, and gave Salem a 3-0 lead.

Drew Hedman attempted to rekindle the rally with an infield single, but when Cuevas induced a flyball to center off the bat of David Mailman, and worked ahead of Jon Hee, it looked like the right-hander had rediscovered his groove.

Unfortunately that was far from the case, as his next pitch hit Hee in the shoulder and the floodgates were open for good.

Peter Hissey followed with a two-run triple to make it a five-run Salem lead. Then, with the infield in, Tim Federowicz lined one through the hole at short to plate Hissey. Anthony Rizzo put the final nail in the figurative coffin for Cuevas' outing with his two-run homer to right. For Rizzo it was his third dinger in the last two games, while for Wilmington it meant a call to the bullpen.

Baez entered and promptly allowed three of the first four batters he faced to reach safely. Lavarnway walked for the second time in the inning and Middlebrooks ripped a ground-rule double to right-center.

Even when the Rocks got an out it resulted in a run, as Tejeda's grounder to short brought home Lavarnway. Salem got its final tally of the frame on Hedman's RBI knock.

Mailman was the only Sock not to reach in the inning. Three of his teammates more than picked up the slack as they reached twice, while two, Lavarnway and Middlebrooks, scored twice.

Wilmington did have a reply in the home half of the second, as left fielder Jamar Walton took Red Sox right-hander Stolmy Pimentel deep for his first homer of the season.

Unfortunately for the Blue Crew, Walton's shot represented the only damage of the night against the Salem starter. Pimentel (3-1) ended his evening after 5.1 frames, surrendering only the lone run on four hits. He fanned five and did not issue a single free pass.

Salem would add another run in the sixth on an RBI hit off the bat of Tejeda. Just 24 hours after taking an ugly collar with an 0-for-5 performance, the second baseman had three hits and four productive at-bats. He finished just a triple shy of the cycle, and drove in three runs.

Late in the game Wilmington plated a pair off the Salem ‘pen courtesy of single tallies in the seventh and eighth. Fernando Garcia cut the Rocks' deficit to single digits with his run-scoring grounder to second.

In the eighth, Walton smoked an RBI double to the warning track in dead-center. The left fielder finished the night with two hits, twice as many as he had on the season prior to Wednesday.

The Rocks will look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Sox on Thursday night at Frawley Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m. as the Rocks will send right-hander Tim Melville (1-3, 11.88) to the hill. Salem is slated to counter with fellow right-hander Brock Huntzinger (1-2, 3.86). The Blue Crew has not been swept in a series to this point in 2010.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Adrian Ortiz extended his hitting streak to eight games with his sixth-inning single. The Wilmington leadoff man, who went 1-for-4 on Tuesday, is batting .424 (14-for-33) during the stretch.

Rey Navarro, acquired by trade over the weekend, got his first hit as a Wilmington Blue Rock thanks to his liner over short in the seventh inning.

The Rocks extended their season-high five-game losing streak. Wilmington, which occupies the basement of the Carolina League North, saw its record drop to a season-worst six games under .500 at 10-16.

The Blue Rocks allowed 10 runs in the second inning. The only other time they allowed more in a single frame came in Game Two of the 2004 N.D.C.S. when Potomac plated 11 runs in the third inning on its way to a 14-6 victory. Wilmington would get the last laugh when it won a decisive Game Three 24 hours later to take the series.

Salem's back-to-back home runs in the second marked the first time an opponent did that to the Rocks since August 13, 2007.

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