Wilmington Blue Rocks Down Potomac Nationals, 5-1

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -Woodbridge, VA – In their most important series of the season to date, the Wilmington Blue Rocks made team history on Thursday night. The Blue Crew took a 5-1 win over the Potomac Nationals to move into a tie for first place in the CL North. The victory was the Rocks’ 11^th in a row, which equals the franchise record for longest winning streak. 

Wilmington’s triumph came largely thanks to the powerful left arm of 20-year-old starter Michael Montgomery.  

After failing to finish the fifth frame in each of his first two starts as a Wilmington Blue Rock, Montgomery took things to another level on Thursday. The southpaw surrendered just one run on five hits over seven sterling innings.  

Montgomery (1-0) threw only 91 pitches, 57 of which went for strikes, as he established a new career-long outing and also earned his first win at the Advanced-A level. He tied a career-best mark with seven strikeouts and did not issue a single free pass. 

That performance was more than enough to outshine Potomac starting pitcher Trevor Holder (1-1). The Washington Nationals’ 2009 third-round draft pick was victimized for five runs in only his second Carolina League start. It marks the most runs allowed by the former Georgia Bulldog as a professional over three different levels. 

Wilmington ’s charge began in the third. A Ryan Eigsti walk and an Anthony Seratelli bunt single opened the threat. One out later, Johnny Giavotella’s line-drive single to left scored Eigsti and moved Seratelli to third. Mike Moustakas then brought the Blue Crew shortstop home when he launched a sacrifice fly to center.

Potomac responded with one of only two threats the P-Nats would pose on the night. Back-to-back two-out hits, a double by Jesus Valdez and an RBI single by Michael Burgess, pulled Potomac to within a run.

The Rocks responded in the fifth though. Eigsti legged out a double and then moved to third on Seratelli’s fly ball to center. That brought the infield in, which allowed Derrick Robinson to send a bouncer through the right-side hole for a run-scoring single.

In the bottom of the fifth the P-Nats mounted their final charge of the night. Potomac put runners at second and third with one out, but Montgomery escaped the jam unscathed with a strikeout of Boomer Whiting and a fly ball off the bat of Martinez one pitch later.

Wilmington added two more insurance runs in the sixth. Clint Robinson worked a one-out walk and came home one pitch later on Eric Hosmer’s RBI triple. With the infield in, Nick Van Stratten plated Hosmer with a seeing-eye single past a crisscrossing middle infield.

From there, Montgomery, Zach Peterson and Carlos Rivas combined to retire Potomac ’s final 12 batters of the night. Some credit for that streak has to go to Jamar Walton, who made a spectacular catch to open the ninth as he ran full speed into the left-field fence.

The Rocks look to keep the winning streak alive on Friday as they face Potomac again at 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Eduardo Paulino (5-6, 4.24) gets the start for the Blue Crew. The P-Nats are scheduled to counter with converted reliever Adam Carr (1-2, 4.69).

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The Blue Rocks have won a franchise record 11 straight games for the first time since May 23-June 6, 1996. That season saw the second of Wilmington 's four Carolina League Mills Cup Championships. It was also the lone title for manager John Mizerock, who won 300 games over four seasons on the Riverfront.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks bullpen tossed two more scoreless frames on Thursday night. Rocks’ relievers have now thrown 30.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. The unit has surrendered just one unearned tally over that stretch.

Michael Montgomery earned his first win as a Blue Rock in just his third appearance since joining the Blue Crew. That was the fastest he grabbed a victory for a team in his two-year career. Montgomery did not get a win until his eighth appearance with the Arizona League Royals in 2008, and until his fifth start with the Bees earlier this season.

Mike Moustakas’ sacrifice fly in the third plated a run for the Rocks. It was also good for the top prospect in the Kansas City organization’s 13^th run batted in over his last 12 games. He leads the team and ranks second on the Royals’ farm with 67 RBIs.

Nick Van Stratten went 2-for-4 on Thursday to extend his hitting streak to eight games. The effort was also good for the right fielder’s first multi-hit game as a Blue Rock.

Wilmington pitchers faced the minimum in six of the game’s nine innings.

Five different Blue Rocks finished with an RBI.

The Blue Rocks have won three straight at Pfitzner Stadium for the first time since winning their last two games there in 2007 and their first game in Woodbridge, VA the next year.

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