Wilmington, DE – Mario Santiago (pictured) made his Frawley Stadium debut a positive one, as the right-hander grabbed his first victory of the season and the Wilmington Blue Rocks downed the Winston-Salem Warthogs, 4-1, on Saturday night. The win is Wilmington’s third straight, matching the longest winning streak put forth by the Blue Crew this season.

Coming in with a pair of losses and a 7.71 ERA through three starts – all on the road – Santiago (1-2) overcame some early bumps to toss 5.1 solid innings. The Puerto Rico native allowed five hits and a run with four strikeout and three walks. He pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and stranded two more runners in the second. At one point, Santiago retired eight in a row.

The lone run Santiago surrendered was the result of high fly ball and a difficult twilight sky. With Wilmington ahead 3-0, C.J. Retherford led off the sixth frame with a medium-depth fly that left fielder Anthony Seratelli appeared to have lined up. However, at the last moment, Seratelli lost the flight path of the stuck ball and watched as it landed well off to his right and bounded towards the warning track. Retherford furiously rounded the bases and slid home before the cut-off throw from shortstop Chris McConnell to break up what was a Wilmington shutout bid.

The Rocks built their lead beginning in the first inning, as the Rocks manufactured a 1-0 lead thanks to classic “small ball.” Derrick Robinson, who went 3-for-4 on the night, led off against lefty Aaron Poreda (0-2) with a bunt single and soon took second via a stolen base. He stole home later in the frame on the front end of a double steal to scratch out the game’s first tally.

Wilmington put up a two-spot in the fifth with a pair of two-out hits from Robinson and Chris McConnell. Robinson looped a double down the right-field line to chase Josh Johnson home from first. McConnell punched a single to left in the following at-bat to plate Robinson and push the Blue Rocks lead to 3-0.

The Blue Rocks added an insurance run off reliever Ryan Rote in the eighth. With two outs and Kurt Mertins at third, Jeff Howell sliced a shallow liner to right field that Salvador Sanchez misjudged and played into three bases. Howell was credited with single and an RBI on the play. He was stranded at third when Miguel Vega flew out to right.

Tyler Chambliss picked up his team-leading fourth save by pitching a scoreless ninth, striking out a pair in the process.

Wilmington will try for the sweep of the Warthogs on Sunday afternoon at 1:35 p.m. The Rocks will send the piggybacking tandem of lefty Everett Teaford and righty Greg Holland against Winston-Salem righty Jacob Rasner.

GAME NOTES
Kurt Mertins saw his team-best hitting streak come to a halt at 11 games after going 0-for-3 with a walk. Nonetheless, the streak is the second longest in the Carolina League so far this season. Coincidentally, the league’s longest streak was also put on ice in the same contest, as Warthogs first-bagger Javier Colina had his 15-gamer snapped following an 0-for-4 effort.

The Wilmington bullpen combination of Gilbert De La Vara, Chris Nicoll, Aaron Hartsock and Tyler Chambliss backed up Mario Santiago’s strong start with 3.2 innings of two-hit, shutout baseball. Hartsock surrendered the only two hits, but escaped unscathed thanks largely to a pair of strikeouts in the eighth.

The Blue Rocks improved to 5-4 at home on the season and have won four straight at Frawley.