Piterson lifts Royals to series victory

Luis Piterson entered the game with the best batting average in the Appalachian League. By the end of the night, he made his way to the top spot in RBIs, too.

Piterson's five runs batted in, including a grand slam in the third inning, propelled Burlington to a 7-2 victory over Bluefield Wednesday night at Burlington Athletic Stadium. The win clinched the Royals' first series win of 2010 and pushed the squad to within two games of first place.

After two scoreless innings for both sides, Burlington (4-5) loaded the bases with one out. Piterson smashed a towering grand slam over the left field wall. That blow was enough for the Royals to cruise to their third win in four nights.

But Burlington was not done yet. In the fifth, the Royals brought in three more, the first of which came in because of a double steal by Derek Rodriguez and Alex Llanos. Then, back-to-back RBI singles by Piterson and Ryan Stovall put the Royals up 7-1.

Piterson finished 2-for-4 with his third homer and five RBIs, pushing his total to ten on the season. His batting average is now .517, 50 points higher than anyone else in the Appalachian League.

Burlington starter Willian Avinazar (1-0) went five innings, allowing just one unearned run and two hits. His ERA still sits at 0.00 after two starts of five frames and no earned runs. Josh Worrell pitched two scoreless innings, and Chas Byrne finished off the Orioles in the eighth and ninth innings, with the only blemish a solo shot by Corey Thomas in the ninth.

Bluefield (3-6) could only muster three hits, and starter David Baker surrendered seven runs in four and a third innings. The Orioles have yet to win a series this season.

These two teams now head to Bowen Field for a three-game set at Bluefield. Daniel Hernandez is slated to make his first start of the season for the Royals. Thursday's series opener begins at 7 p.m. You can tune in to burlingtonroyals.com at 6:45 p.m. for all of the coverage.