Starling homers, Binford tosses a gem

Bubba Starling hit a two-run homer in the top of the first, and that’s all Class A-Advanced Wilmington would need thanks to starter Christian Binford.

Over seven innings, Binford gave up three hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out eight as the Blue Rocks won 8-1 at Carolina. Binford, 2-1, threw 82 pitches and 60 were for strikes. He got nine groundball outs and no flyball outs. His ERA dropped to 1.91.

Raul Mondesi opened the game with a single and Starling followed with his second home run of the season, a shot to left field.

Mondesi’s RBI double scored Terrance Gore in the second inning, and Wilmington blew it open with five in fourth inning. Cody Stubbs opened with a walk and moved to second on Kenny Diekroeger single. Gore reached on a bunt and all three runners scored when Mondesi reached on an error by the Carolina third baseman.

Starling reached on a fielder’s choice that forced Mondesi. Starling stole second ahead of Hunter Dozier’s walk. After an out, the runners moved up a base on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Johermyn Chavez, making it 8-0.

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added two hits, including a double, with one RBI.

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walked, moved to second on a sacrifice, took third on a wild pitch. After an out, another wild pitch brought Threlkeld home. Although Arguelles took the loss, it was his best outing of the season. He gave up the two runs on three hits with no walks in four innings. He struck out three and his ERA dropped from 14.59 to 12.12.

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This story was originally published May 4, 2014 at 12:15 AM with the headline "Starling homers, Binford tosses a gem."