MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - Wilmington, DE - Wednesday night at Frawley Stadium, the Wilmington Blue Rocks turned the tables on the Carolina League's toughest pitcher. The slumping Rocks dented 11-game winner Scott Diamond for five runs over 3.2 innings and avoided a three-game sweep with a 7-3 victory over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in the finale of a seven-game homestand. Coupled with Frederick's loss to Lynchburg, Wilmington's magic number to clinch the Northern Division wild card has shrunk to eight games.

With a svelte 2.72 ERA and just one defeat to his record, Diamond had been nearly indestructible for the Pelicans since arriving from Low-A Rome in late May. The 22-year-old southpaw entered the night riding a personal eight-game winning streak, while his team had earned victories in 13 of the 15 games he pitched since his promotion.

But, the slumping Blue Rocks lineup responded to the challenge by jumping on the Pelicans' ace for three runs in the first inning alone. The Rocks sent seven men to the plate, collected two hits, drew two walks and stole five bases in the opening stanza. Jeff Bianchi produced the first two runs of the game with a bases-loaded single on a 2-0 pitch. In the next at-bat, Josh Johnson plated a third tally with an RBI groundout to third base.

The Blue Rocks edged ahead 4-0 in the second when Jeff Howell cracked a lead-off single and scored two outs later on a Chris McConnell single that glanced off the mitt of third baseman Eric Campbell.

Diamond (11-2) was removed in the fourth inning after issuing a two-out walk to Derrick Robinson, who stole three bases in the game to push his league-best total to 60 for the season. Robinson scored on an error later in the inning, thus closing the book on Diamond. It stands as the shortest career start for Diamond, who failed to log a victory for the first time in six road starts as a Pelican. The five runs (four earned) are a season-high for the Ontario, Canada native.

While the spotlight might have been on Diamond at the start of the night, Wilmington's Canadian right-hander wrestled it away with another solid effort. Matt Kniginyzky was one out shy of logging a full seven innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. The Mississauga, Ontario native was a bit erratic at times, with four wild pitches and two hit-batters, but still managed to win his seventh consecutive decision. Wilmington has now tasted victory in 10 of the last 11 outings for Kniginyzky (9-7), who is tied with reliever Aaron Hartsock for the team-lead in wins.

Up 5-1 in the fifth, the Blue Rocks dropped the hammer with two more runs. Cody Strait led off the frame with his team-leading 11th home run, a line-shot over the left-field wall. Strait had lost an eight-game hitting streak and a five-game homer streak the previous night. Anthony Seratelli pushed across another man with a sac fly to left field.

After Kniginyzky bled a pair of runs with two outs in the seventh, Hartsock came on to strand a runner and then twirled two more scoreless innings to finish the game.

With a disappointing 3-4 homestand in the rearview, the Rocks hit the road for the final time this regular season with a seven-game trek that begins in Kinston, NC Thursday at 7 p.m. In the opener with the Indians, Wilmington sends lefty Ray Liotta (0-0, 6.75) against righty Jeanmar Gomez (4-8, 4.81).

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