Catcher Interference Call Leads Frederick Keys Past the Wilmington Blue Rocks

Sunday

06Sep2009

Sunday, September 6, 2009 at 01:34AM

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-Wilmington, DE – Catcher's Interference with two outs in the seventh inning kept a Frederick rally alive and led to a six-run frame by the Keys during an 8-3 victory over the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Saturday night at Frawley Stadium.

The game-altering call came with two outs and two men on. Kyle Hudson appeared to ground into an inning-ending fielder's choice, as he bounced one softly to Josh Johnson at short. Johnson flipped the ball to Johnny Giavotella covering for an apparent third out. But as Wilmington's team cleared the field, home plate umpire Doug Vines unveiled a decision that would decide the game.

Vines ruled that Wilmington catcher Matt Morizio's glove collided with Hudson's bat on the swing. The result was catcher's interference, which loaded the bases, and kept the rally alive.

From there the Frederick bats took over.

Greg Miclat followed with a line-drive single to right that brought home one. With the bags still full, Robbie Widlansky delivered the dagger. His bases-clearing double to right-center gave the Keys a lead they would never relinquish. After Caleb Joseph was hit-by-a-pitch, Joseph Mahoney capped the frame with a double to left which plated a pair.

Frederick sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring six runs on only three hits. Scott Kelley (0-1) was charged with all six tallies, five of which were earned. In his Blue Rocks debut, the Penn State product took the loss.

Until the meltdown, Wilmington held an advantage from the first inning forward. The Rocks took a 1-0 lead in the opening frame thanks to the hustle of Giavotella. The second baseman singled to left, and when Widlansky over-threw the cutoff man, he scurried his way into scoring position. That allowed Giavotella to come home on Jamar Walton's RBI single to right.
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In the sixth, Wilmington grabbed a two-run lead on Giavotella's majestic homer down the left-field line. It was his sixth roundtripper of the season. Giavotella finished Saturday, 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

The Rocks also got a great performance from starter Danny Duffy. Despite allowing only four hits and fanning eight over six scoreless frames, the left-hander took the no-decision.

His counterpart, Frederick starter Patrick Kantakevich, did not pitch as well as Duffy, but still earned the win. Kantakevich (1-0) surrendered just the two scores (one earned) on five hits in his Advanced-A debut.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

For the second consecutive start, Danny Duffy came one strikeout shy of his season-high. The left-hander fanned eight on August 30 against the Salem Red Sox. Duffy also did not earn a decision in that one.

Duffy has been excellent since returning from his strained back injury in mid-August. In five starts he is 1-0 with a 1.01 earned run average.

The left-hander did say after the game though that his back was bothering him throughout his final frame on the hill. Duffy was clearly attempting to stretch it out on the field in the sixth. But Duffy also explained that it was just a case of simple tightness and he already felt better in the clubhouse afterward. He was positive he would be fine for his next start.

Clint Robinson homered in the ninth when the game was out of reach. Robinson now has 13 dingers on the season, good for second on the team.

The loss brought a five-game winning streak over the Keys to a close. It also ended a string of four consecutive wins overall, and six straight at home.

Former Blue Rocks pitcher Dusty Hughes, who spent 2004 on the Riverfront, was called up by the Royals from Triple-A on Saturday. If Hughes appears in a game he will be the second one-time Blue Crewer to make his Major League debut in 2009, and the 102^nd of all-time.

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Melissa Martinez | Comments Off |