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 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes

June 25, 2007 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington Blue Rocks (30-38, 4-0) Carolina League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals vs. Winston-Salem Warthogs (38-31, 1-3) Carolina League Affiliate of the Chicago White Sox

Game No. 73 -- Away Game No. 42 -- Ernie Shore Field -- Monday, June 25, 2007 -- 7:00 p.m.

UNDEFEATED: The Wilmington Blue Rocks never trailed and held off a late rally to earn a 4-3 win in their series opener against the Winston-Salem Warthogs on Sunday night. Starter Julio Pimentel (4-3) snapped a personal three-game losing streak with his first win since May 11, firing seven innings of one-run ball. Despite allowing a pair of runs in the ninth, Wilmington's new closer, Rayner Oliveros, earned his second save of the season by working the contest's final two innings. The win, just Wilmington's second in eight tries at Ernie Shore Field this season, improved the Blue Rocks' second-half record to 4-0.

THE FINAL OUT: Two runs had already scored with two outs in the ninth, and two men stood on base in a one-run game as Oliveros received a stern test in his first outing as the new closer. With All-Star Gilbert De La Vara promoted to Double-AWichita (TEX), Oliveros was given the end-game job, and despite some runs against him, struck out Javier Castillo on three straight changeups to clinch the victory and his second save.

J.J. = DY-NO-MITE!: Josh Johnson broke up a scoreless game in the fifth inning with a clutch two-out RBI hit. Miguel Vega started the inning with a line drive single to left field, Cody Clark followed with a sac bunt to push him to second and two batters later, Johnson plated Vega with a line single up the middle for a 1-0 lead. Johnson was at it again in the seventh, notching another insurance run on a two-out RBI hit. This time, Brett Bigler started the inning with a full-count walk, and scored from first on an opposite-way double off the bat of Johnson for a 2-0 contest. "J.J." finished the game 3-for-4 with two doubles along with his two RBIs.

ME & JULIO AT THE BALLYARD: Starter Julio Pimentel retired a batter on one pitch six times, and 16 times retired a batter on three pitches or less, en route to his fourth win of the season. The All-Star's ERA dipped from 2.96 to 2.80 as he tied a career-high mark for innings pitched at seven.

UNBLEMISHED: Wilmington remained the lone undefeated team in the Carolina League on the second half with its Sunday win. Only the Rocks' longtime divisional rivals, the Lynchburg Hillcats, have less than two losses on the second half. The ‘Cats stand one game behind Wilmington in the North at 3-1.

OUCH!: First baseman/DH Miguel Vega, who had not been hit by a pitch in 64 games and 252 at-bats entering Sunday, was plunked twice in the win.

WELCOME FRIEND!: Latest addition Brad McCann made his first start as a Blue Rock, playing first base and batting cleanup. The older brother of Braves All-Star catcher Brian McCann went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.

STRUGGLING ALL-STAR: Center fielder Jose Duarte went 0-for-5 with a strikeout as his offensive woes continued. Over his last 11 games, Duarte has gone 5-for-38 (.132) with just one extra-base hit, only five runs scored and 12 strikeouts. His average is down nearly 30 points from .312 to .285.

...PART II: Wilmington's only other position player All-Star, third baseman Mario Lisson, has also struggled in recent time. Over his last nine games, "Super Mario" has hit just .125 (4-for-32) with only one RBI and 14 strikeouts. During his recent slump, Lisson's batting average has dipped from .299 to .276.

Tonight's Probables

WIL: RHP Jason Godin (0-2, 7.64) vs. W-S: RHP Brian Omogrosso (3-2, 4.43)

FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME: Right-hander Jason Godin, a 6'4" 170-pound 22-year-old, starts for the first time since June 10 tonight. Godin went 1-1 with a 1.84 ERA in seven games and four starts with Low-A Burlington prior to his promotion on May 31, holding the Midwest League to a .175 batting average. Coincidentally enough, his last start came against the Warthogs at Ernie Shore Field.Godin blew a 3-0 lead despite a quality start of three runs allowed over six innings in a 6-4 loss. Baseball America ranked Godin as the No. 29 overall prospect for the Royals.

Speaking of first time in a long time, Winston-Salem's Brian Omogrosso makes his first start since his high school days tonight. The former Indiana State University star has only thrown out of the bullpen in 48 professional appearances. Omogrosso's career-long outing came last season with Low-A Kannapolis (SAL), when he tossed 3.2 innings on August 29 against Asheville. He has faced Wilmington four times as a reliever, going 1-0 with an ERA of 3.00 and one save in two tries over six innings pitched.

Meet The Warthogs

OH MY, MICAH!: Take a look at the Carolina League leader board and you will see the name of Micah Schnurstein in steady abundance. In 71 games played, the All-Star first baseman leads the league in homers (16), extra-base hits (47) and doubles (28). Against the Blue Rocks, Schnurstein has hit .246 with three round-trippers, nine extra-base hits, seven RBIs and seven runs scored with an OPS of .833.

ONE-RUN WONDERS: No team in the Carolina League has won more close ballgames than the Warthogs, whose 16-8 record in onerun contests is tops in the loop. Three of those wins and one of those losses have come against the Blue Rocks. On the other side, the Blue Rocks have just seven wins in 18 single-run affairs - the worst such record in the Carolina League.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Entering tonight's action Blue Rocks lead the all-time series against the Warthogs 151-142. However, the 'Hogs have gotten the best of Wilmington thus far in 2007, taking nine of 14 from the Rocks, including two of three at Frawley from June 15-17. Wilmington is just 1-6 at Ernie Shore Field in 2007.


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Carolina League Stories from June 25, 2007


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