Wilmington nips K-Tribe in the ninth

Published in Sports on May 29, 2007 1:48 PM

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KINSTON -- Jose Duarte crossed home on a ninth-inning wild pitch and Wilmington nipped Kinston 6-5 at historic Grainger Stadium on Monday evening.

Duarte started the Blue Rock ninth with a double and advanced to third on a groundout. K-Tribe reliever Kyle Collins (2-2) unleashed a wild pitch and took the pitching loss with a two-inning, two-hit stint.

Max Ramirez's first-inning single gave Kinston a 1-0 lead.

Wilmington, the Carolina League Northern Division leader, put four runs on the board until the K-Tribe's Chris Gimenez ripped a home run -- his 11th of the season -- in the fourth.

Jose Constanza added a two-RBI, bases-loaded double to tie the game at 4-4. Ramirez (2-for-5, 2 RBI) added a seventh-inning solo home and forced another deadlock at 5-5.

Wilmington reliever Yovani D'Amico (3-0) tossed three innings of one-earned run and grabbed the mound win. Kevin Dixon worked six innings and yielded five earned runs for the K-Tribe. Eric Stiller pitched a scoreless seventh in relief and Collins finished up.

The teams continue their three-game series tonight. Kinston right-hander Sung-Wei Tseng goes against Blue Rock hurler Rowdy Hardy, who has the lowest ERA (1.22) in the Carolina League. Hardy is 5-0 on the mound.

Tseng has the ninth-lowest ERA at 3.12.