Pineyro Fans 8 Dirty Birds as Rockers Win 6th Straight

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The High Point Rockers used three pitchers to hold Charleston to just four hits in a 6-1 victory on Wednesday night at Appalachian Power Park. It was the sixth straight win for the Rockers who improved to 36-25 on the season.

High Point starter Ivan Pineyro (W, 2-0) went six innings, yielded just three hits and one run while recording eight strikeouts. John Hayes went 2.1 innings and gave up one hit while Kyle Mott recorded the final two outs of the game.

Michael Martinez and Giovanny Alfonzo led the offensive with three hits and an RBI apiece. Zander Wiel drove in a pair of runs with his 14th homer of the season.

The Dirty Birds took an early 1-0 lead off Pineyro when Nick Heath hit his first homer of the year to right field. But little did Charleston know, that would be their only run of the night.

Charleston lefty Derrick Adams didn’t allow a run through the first two innings, but the Rockers tied the game in the third when Alfonzo and Jay Gonzalez started the frame with singles. Ben Aklinski grounded to shortstop Connor Justus who flipped to Diego Goris at second to force Gonzalez but Goris’ throw to first was wide of the bag allowing Alfonso to score.

The Rockers then took the lead with a three-run fifth inning. Jerry Downs led off with a single before Zander Wiel blasted a two-run homer, putting High Point ahead 3-1. Logan Morrison was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single by Martinez. Alfonzo then singled up the middle to score Morrison for a 4-1 Rockers’ advantage.

In the sixth, Charleston reliever Francisco Carrillo issued walks to Aklinski and Downs then Morrison stroked a double to right to bring home Aklinski. Downs then scored on a Martinez single to put the Rockers ahead 6-1.

High Point and Charleston will conclude their three-game series on Thursday night with a 6:35 p.m. start at Appalachian Power Park.