Wilmington, DE - With starter Matt Kniginyzky (pictured) making a premature exit in the fourth inning, reliever Aaron Hartsock came on to guide the Blue Rocks to a 5-2 victory over the Kinston Indians at Frawley Stadium on Tuesday night. The California native silenced the mighty Kinston offense with a career-high tying five innings of no-hit, no-run baseball, giving the beleaguered Blue Rocks bullpen a much-needed blow. The Wilmington win snapped a three-game slide and evened the three-game set at one apiece.

Hartsock (1-1), who pitched all of last season with Low-A Burlington, earned his first Advanced-A victory. He previously tossed five innings of relief on July 23, 2006 while pitching for rookie-level Idaho Falls.

Three Blue Rocks pitchers combined to surrender a mere four base hits on the night to the Carolina League’s top-hitting club. Tyler Chambliss completed the pitching triumvirate with a scoreless ninth for his first save of the season.

Kniginyzky allowed an unearned tally in the top of the first, but was pitching well until he was struck with a Beau Mills liner with two outs in the third. The ball caromed to first baseman David Wood and the out was recorded, but the Canadian right-hander appeared shaken. He came out to begin the fourth, but after a leadoff double and a walk, manager Darryl Kennedy and trainer David Iannicca emerged from the Rocks dugout and removed Kniginyzky.

Fortunately, Kniginyzky was reported to be fine following the contest. He was hit in the right forearm and was removed for precautionary reasons on the chilly evening.

While the pain inflicted on Wilmington's starter was somewhat physical, Kinston's starter was wounded on an entirely different level. The Rocks rocked Jeanmar Gomez (0-1) for four runs on eight hits over 3.1 innings.

The Blue Rocks quickly erased a 1-0 hole with a four-spot in the bottom of the first - all with two outs. David Wood knocked home the first two Wilmington tallies with a pull single to right field. Immediately thereafter, Kurt Mertins blasted an RBI triple into the right-center field gap to make it 3-0. Jeff Howell completed the opening-inning assault two batters later with an opposite-field single, scoring Mertins.

Mertins had arguably his finest game as a Blue Rock, going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks. With the Rocks up 4-2 in the fifth, he single-handedly produced a run after walking with one out. Following an errant pickoff attempt that sent him to second, Mertins crossed to third on a balk by reliever Heath Taylor. With Josh Johnson batting, Mertins scampered home on a wild pitch.

The Rocks and K-Tribe play the rubber game of their three-game series Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. The Wilmington piggybacking duo of Greg Holland and Everett Teaford are slated to pitch against Kinston righty Paolo Espino.

GAME NOTES
The Blue Rocks stole three more bases on the night, pushing their league-best total to 29. Chris McConnell, David Wood and Kurt Mertins each swiped a bag. However, Jarrod Dyson was caught on two occasions in the contest.

Dyson had no such problems at the dish, as the center fielder went 3-for-4 plus a walk while batting in the leadoff spot. Prior to his Tuesday effort, Dyson was just 1-for-19 on the season.

Joe Dickerson, who entered the game with a league-best 10-game hitting streak, went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. He was hit by a pitch in the seventh in what turned out to be his final plate appearance.

The Rocks committed three errors on the game, tying the season high for miscues in a game.

The game featured 21 total strikeouts between the two clubs, with the Blue Rocks staff recording 11 of the punch-outs. Matt Kniginyzky and Aaron Hartsock each fanned four while Tyler Chambliss struck out the side around one base hit in the ninth.