Winston-Salem Warthogs Take Nap On Wilmington Blue Rocks and Still Win 6-4 - Adv A, Carolina League

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The Winston-Salem Warthogs utilized a solid outing from Aaron Poreda and thwarted a late Wilmington rally for a 6-4 win over the Blue Rocks on Thursday night at Ernie Shore Field.  Poreda took a 6-1 lead into the ninth, but ran out of steam as Wilmington plated three runs in the final frame before Warthogs closer Kanekoa Texeira recorded the final out with a runner on second base to snap Winston-Salem’s six game losing streak.

Poreda (1-2) was the star of the show as the 2007 first round pick of the Chicago White Sox tossed a career-high eight innings while allowing three runs on seven hits.  He did not walk a batter for his third consecutive start and earned his first win of the season.

The Warthogs jumped in front early with a pair of runs in the first inning off Wilmington starting pitcher Mario Santiago.  Javier Colina singled with one out and scored on a Brandon Allen single that was misplayed by center fielder Derrick Robinson.  Allen lined a fastball to center that Robinson charged and missed allowing the ball to roll all the way to the wall.  Colina scored from first and Allen ended up at third.  After a ground out, Lee Cruz smacked a ground ball under the glove of third baseman Josh Johnson to score Allen and give Winston-Salem a 2-0 lead.

Winston-Salem extended its lead with three runs in the third inning.  Salvador Sanchez and Lee Cruz connected on back-to-back RBI singles and C.J. Retherford collected an RBI groundout to give the Warthogs a 5-0 lead.  After Wilmington brought a run across in the fourth inning, the Warthogs answered when Lee Cruz belted a solo home run off Santiago in the fifth inning to give Winston-Salem a 6-1. 

Santiago (1-3) took the loss after surrendering six runs in six innings of work, but did strikeout a season-high eight batters.  Colina led the way at the plate for Winston-Salem going 3-for-4 with two runs scored.  He was just 1-for-17 in his previous five games.

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