Winston-Salem Warthogs Have Home Run Derby at Expense of Wilmington Blue Rocks

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – Winston-Salem, NC – The Wilmington Blue Rocks had allowed just six home runs through 27 games played this season entering Saturday night. A Saturday night that saw an incredible five fly balls leave the yard of the opponents’ bats, including three by John Shelby III in an 8-5 loss to the Winston-Salem Warthogs at Ernie Shore Field.  Southpaw starter Everett Teaford (2-1) allowed three of the big flies and took the loss.  The Blue Rocks are now down 2-1 in the four-game set. 

An omen of the night’s struggles came in the opening inning when Shelby, the second hitter Teaford faced, sent the first pitch he saw over the wall in left-center field for a 1-0 deficit.  Heavy winds, which gusted up to 17 mph out to center field, seemed to help the initial round-tripper. 

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The Rocks rallied in the second inning, plating two runs on three infield singles and an error.  With two outs and the bases empty, Jarrod Dyson singled to shortstop, stole second, and took third on Brett Bigler’s single to second base.  A throw to first base by starting pitcher Matt Long (2-2) was errantly booted by Brandon Allen, rolling into the expansive foul ground of Ernie Shore Field.  Dyson scored standing up from third base, and Bigler went to third base for a 1-1 draw.  Derrick Robinson folloed with an infield single to second that knocked home Bigler for a 2-1 Wilmington advantage, the Blue Crew’s only lead on the night. 

Long would allow just those two unearned runs over his five innings in his first start of the season. 

Winston-Salem scored runs in four straight innings from the fifth through the eighth, including a two-out shot to right by Shelby in the fifth and an Allen leadoff bomb to right in the sixth.  Teaford retired three in a row after Allen’s blast, and departed the game after six innings of four-run ball, allowing seven hits (three homers), one walk and notching four strikeouts. 

Russ Haltiwanger came out of the bullpen to start the seventh inning, but would not finish the frame.  With one out, he allowed a single to left off the bat of C.J. Lang and a Paulo Orlando single to right that was errantly misplayed by Dyson.  That miscue allowed Lang to score and Orlando to take third base.  But Shelby followed with his third home run of the game and the season, taking a full-count pitch to left for a 7-2 bulge. 

Southpaw Gilbert De La Vara gave up the fifth home run, a two-out shot to left on a first-pitch swing from C.J. Retherford. 

Entering the ninth inning down six runs, the Rocks rallied and had the tying run on deck.  Two-out walks from Dyson and Bigler set the stage against reliever Matt Zeleski, before Robinson hit a two-run double over a shallow Orlando in center, with some aid from the wind.  Chris McConnell followed with his third hit of the night, a belted RBI single to left for an 8-5 count, but Kurt Mertins struck out swinging to end the game. 

The four-gamer concludes on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.  Right-hander Matt Kniginyzky (0-2, 4.12) opposes fellow righty Michael Dubee (2-1, 3.23). 

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Paid attendance was announced at 8,132, by far the largest crowd to see a Blue Rocks road game this season. 

The Blue Rocks hit into outs on first-pitch swings seven times on the night. 

Winston-Salem improved to 10-6 at home with the win, a stark contrast to its 1-8 road record. At home, the Warthogs are hitting .254 and averaging over four runs/game.  On the road, the White Sox affiliate boasts a slim .188 team average, resulting in less than two runs/game.  The ‘Hogs have socked 15 home runs at home this season, but just two on the road. 

Wilmington struck out 10 times on the night including three whiffs by Anthony Seratelli who leads the team with 29 strikeouts in 85 at-bats this season.

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