Wilmington 1, Winston-Salem 0
W: A.J. Puckett (2-1)
L: Aron McRee (0-2)
S: Jacob Bodner (1)
Full box score attached.
WILMINGTON, Del. (April 20, 2017) – Dash starter Aron McRee threw six strong innings, and Luis Basabe extended his hitting streak to five games, but the Blue Rocks blanked Winston-Salem 1-0 in Thursday’s series opener at Frawley Stadium.
Basabe, who is rated by Baseball America as the eighth-best prospect in the White Sox system, went 1-for-3 with a leadoff single in the first inning. The 20-year-old is now 6-for-18 (.333) during his streak, which is one shy of the longest by a Dash hitter in 2017.
On the mound, Winston-Salem (4-11) received an impressive outing from McRee (0-2), who allowed just two hits and one unearned run in his third start of the year. The righty also struck out a season-high six batters while yielding one walk.
Taking over for McRee at the start of the seventh, Ian Hamilton once again shined out of the bullpen for the Dash. The 21-year-old tossed two shutout innings, punching out two Blue Rocks (6-8) and allowing two hits. The former Washington State Cougar has not allowed an earned run in first nine innings at the High-A level.
However, Winston-Salem struggled offensively, mustering just six hits on the night. Wilmington starter A.J. Puckett (2-1) dominated the Dash, tossing seven shutout frames and yielding three hits while striking out a career-high eight batters. Jacob Bodner relieved Puckett and hurled two scoreless innings to pick up his first save of the 2017 campaign.
The only multi-hit effort for Winston-Salem came from Louis Silverio, who went 2-for-4 with two singles.
The lone run of the contest came in the first inning. Blue Rocks leadoff man Nicky Lopez started off the frame with a single to center. With D.J. Burt batting, a throwing error by McRee on a pickoff attempt allowed Lopez to go to second. Burt moved Lopez to third on a groundout, and Elier Hernandez followed with an RBI single to put Wilmington ahead 1-0.
The Dash continue their four-game set at Frawley Stadium against the Blue Rocks on Friday night. Winston-Salem will send ace left-hander Tanner Banks (2-0, 1.35 ERA) to the hill against Wilmington southpaw Cristian Castillo (0-0, 2.70 ERA). The contest will begin at 7:05 p.m., with all the action available on wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn Radio App.
Following this short road trip, #YourHomeTeam returns to BB&T Ballpark for a three-game homestand from April 25-27 against the Buies Creek Astros. Highlights include our second Two for $22 deal, College Night and another Lowes Foods Thirsty Thursday, where fans can enjoy beers for just $1 through the seventh inning. For more information, call the Dash at (336) 714-2287 or visit wsdash.com.
