Erbe shuts down Blue Rocks again

Brandon Erbe has admittedly been inconsistent at times this season. But he seems to find his groove whenever the Wilmington Blue Rocks are in the opposing dugout.

Erbe struck out a season-high nine over seven hitless innings and combined with two relievers on a one-hitter Wednesday as the Frederick Keys edged the Wilmington Blue Rocks, 3-1, at Harry Grove Stadium.

After plunking Joseph Dickerson with two outs in the opening frame, Erbe settled in and retired the next 16 batters. He struck out the side in the sixth and took the no-hitter into the seventh.

"I felt really good and the defense was making some great plays behind me," said Erbe. "Our shortstop [Ryan McCarthy] saved a hit up the middle in the first inning and I was able to get ahead of the hitters early in the count."

Erbe issued a pair of walks to start the seventh and Jeff Bianchi laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third. Anthony Seratelli followed with a grounder to first baseman Brandon Snyder, who hesitated before throwing home. Josh Johnson slid in with the tying run before Erbe -- the no-hitter still intact -- struck out David Wood to end the inning and his evening.

The 20-year-old left-hander has faced Wilmington twice this season, allowing only two runs over 14 innings. He yielded one run over seven innings on April 22 and had plenty of confidence in his second outing against the Blue Rocks.

"It helps a lot to get a good look at teams," Erbe said. "Wilmington likes to put the ball in play and they can wreak havoc on the bases. My goal was just keep them off the bases tonight. I was getting ahead of the hitters and they were putting the ball in play early in the count."

The former third-round pick admitted thoughts of a no-hitter crept into his head.

"I was thinking about it a little bit," Erbe said. "I walked those first two batters in the seventh on nine pitches and lost a little bit of my focus. I was in such a rhythm and started throwing the ball and kinda got a little ahead of myself."

Erbe went 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA in his first five starts this season, then surrendered 17 runs over 10 innings in his next three outings before turning things back around.

"The biggest thing is being consistent," he said. "I slipped away from my delivery a little and I was a little overconfident. I just need to stay within myself and my delivery."

Ryan Rodriguez (3-0) came on for the Keys in the eighth and allowed a one-out double to Wilver Perez to end the suspense. He tossed a scoreless frame and Chad Thall struck out one in a perfect ninth for his third save.

Miguel Abreu hit a solo homer in the fifth, his first, and Snyder broke the tie with a two-run single in the eighth. Frederick (31-35) went on to snap a four-game losing streak.

Starter Jason Godin allowed one run on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts over seven innings for the Blue Rocks (33-33). Tyler Chambliss (2-1) was charged with two runs on three hits in the eighth.