KANNAPOLIS— The Intimidators turned a good ol’ fashioned pitchers’ duel into a rout Monday night.

That was just fine with manager Razor Shines, who loves a well-pitched game as much as any baseball purist, but values a win even more.

“For 61/2 innings, we were seeing something really special,”Shines said after Kannapolis’ 8-0 victory over Charleston, W.V., at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium. “That was good baseball there.”

The great pitching continued for Shines’ starter in the South Atlantic League battle. Dennis Ulacia improved to 3-0 for the season, throwing eight innings of five-hit ball while striking out 10 AlleyCats.

Charleston starter Pete Bauer, who entered the game having not allowed an earned run this year, matched Ulacia pitch for pitch — until the seventh inning, when the Intimidators scored six runs to make sure Ulacia’s night wasn’t wasted.

“It took us a little longer this time, but I knew we’d adjust and get some runs,”Ulacia said. “We were sitting back on his two-seamer (fastball) and hitting the ball.”

Bauer walked leadoff hitter John Lackaff and surrendered a hard single to cleanup man Casey Rogowski to start the seventh.

With the score knotted at 0-0, everybody in the ballpark knew Darren Ciraco would be trying to bunt over the runners. He did so successfully, but the Intimidators (8-3) got a bonus — Bauer’s throw to first sailed high and Ciraco was safe to load the bases.

“Bauer was as good as anybody out there tonight,”Shines said. “He hurt himself a little bit when he didn’t record that out at first. That opened the gates for us.”

Charleston manager Rolando Pino made a quick visit to the mound, but his words had no effect. Kannapolis’ Derek Wigginton lined a shot up the middle that sent Bauer ducking for cover and brought the first run home.

Another error then helped the big inning along. With a run on the board and the bases still loaded, Charleston’s middle infielders positioned themselves halfway between double-play depth and bringing the infield in for a play at the plate.

Nilson Teilon sent a grounder to short and Raul Tablado chose to throw home instead of trying for the easy double play. Two runs scored when he fired well wide of the plate.

Humberto Quintero singled home Kannapolis’ fourth run of the inning to chase Bauer, and Mike Spidale continued the onslaught with a beautiful squeeze bunt that brought Teilon home in a cloud of dust.

Lackaff, the 10th batter of the inning, ended the scoring with a sac fly to deep center.

Ulacia said he had enjoyed the mound battle with Bauer, but he didn’t let up any after Charleston (4-7) went to the bullpen. The Intimidators’ ace lefty got his 10th strikeout of the night to start off the eighth inning before allowing a triple — the game’s first extra-base hit — that he pitched around with a routine grounder to second.

The only other time Ulacia got in trouble came in the second, but he picked off Guillermo Quiroz from first base, then finished the inning with a strikeout to strand an AlleyCat on third.

He struck out the side on 10 pitches in the fourth inning and enjoyed another 1-2-3, 10-pitch frame in the sixth. But with his pitch-count heading toward 90, Shines made the call to the bullpen, letting Steve Madril close out the game.

“It’s early in the year,”Ulacia said. “We’re worrying about progressing little by little.”

It appears as though Ulacia is getting better every time out, but he said the season-opener was his top performance. And even though it’s hard to argue with Monday’s one-walk, 10-K outing, Shines couldn’t pick a best game, either.

“Dennis has been special every time out,”Shines said. “It’s difficult for me to look at one game and say it was better than the other.”

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NOTES:Kannapolis put the leadoff batter on base in three of the first four innings only to watch three perfectly executed twin killings ruin any scoring chances. … Charleston leadoff man Dominc Rich, the SAL’s leading hitter, went 0-for-4. … The four-game series resumes tonight at 6:35 when Intimidator Kris McWhirter takes the mound against Diegomar Markwell.