Markakis, Carolina League roll

FREDERICK, Md. -- Carolina-California League All-Star Games traditionally have been close contests. Six of the eight meetings were decided by two runs or fewer, with two of the games ending in ties.

Nick Markakis and the Carolina All-Stars changed things Tuesday night at Harry Grove Stadium. The Frederick Keys outfielder went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs in his home park as Carolina banged out 17 hits en route to a 8-0 rout in the annual bi-coastal battle of Class A leagues.

The night belonged to Markakis, much to the delight of the record crowd of 7,734. He pulled off a surprise win in the pregame Home Run Derby and kept that momentum going into the midseason classic. Markakis gave the Carolina League a 2-0 lead with two-run homer in the second, singled in the third and added a solo homer in the fifth.

The 21-year-old finally flied to center in sixth, but the damage was done. Markakis earned Carolina League and All-Star Most Valuable Player honors. California League starter Ubaldo Jimenez was his team's MVP after striking out two in a perfect first inning.

"When he hits it, the ball's going to go," said Carolina League skipper Bien Figueroa, who also manages Markakis at Frederick. "Right now, he's hot ... he's got a groove going."

Markakis said this was just one of those nights where he felt good and kept swinging the bat well.

"It was fun (and) I had a good time coming out here," he said. "I felt good at the plate, I felt comfortable. It's a start, but there's a long way to go until the end of the season."

Markakis led a potent Carolina League attack. Every starter had at least one hit, with Bobby Kingsbury of the Lynchburg Hillcats going 3-for-5 with an RBI single. Mario Delgado of the Keys and Winston-Salem Warthogs teammates Robert Valido and Thomas Collaro pitched in with RBI singles. Ten different players got hits for the Carolina League, which could have made things worse if it hadn't left 12 on base.

Carolina scored single runs in the third and fourth and made it 7-0 with a three-run fifth inning. Kory Casto of the Potomac Nationals added a solo homer in the seventh to cap the scoring.

Carolina League pitchers made it a long night for the California League. Nine Carolina hurlers allowed only four hits and a walk while combining to strike out 13. The California League put more than one runner on base just once.

Figueroa said his pitchers weren't afraid of some of the big numbers posted by the West Coast hitters.

"They (threw) fastball after fastball and threw breaking balls when they had to," Figueroa said. "Everyone was throwing strikes."

Frederick pitcher Chris Britton agreed with his manager that Carolina League pitchers were holding nothing back.

"Batters are going in there swinging, so why can't we go in throwing strikes?" Britton asked with a smile.