CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes

Published on May 25, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


LAST TIME OUT: Manager Vance Wilson has harped on defending his club's home turf. The Blue Rocks did so again on Wednesday morning en route to a 3-0 victory over the Potomac Nationals at Frawley Stadium. With the win, the Rocks finished up their homestand at 5-1. Wilmington has won four in a row at home for the first time in 2012 and four in a row overall for the second time this season. It has not won five in a row overall since taking seven straight from May 16-22 last season. That run concluded a three-game sweep of Myrtle Beach.

MOVIN' ON UP: Yesterday, southpaw reliever Jon Keck received a promotion to Double-A Northwest Arkansas (TEX). He went 2-1 with a 1.61 ERA in 11 relief outings. He did not allow a run in nine of his outings and concluded his 2012 tenure with Wilmington with a 0.51 ERA and .175 BAA over his last nine outings.

DO THE CARL(TON): Taking Keck's place will be right-hander Edwin Carl. Last season, Carl claimed multiple honors including Idaho Falls Pitcher of the Year, Pioneer League All-Star and MiLB.com's Short-Season Reliever of the Year. During his time with the Rookie-Advanced Chukars, he struck out 71 over 33.0 IP for a ridiculous 19.4 K/9 IP. In 10 starts with Low-A Kane County (MWL) this year, he went 4-2 with the loop's eighth-best ERA (2.11).

NO RUNS FOR YOU: The Rocks picked up their third shutout of the season. Tyler Sample threw five frames, Keck handled three, and Sam Runion put a bow on top in the ninth inning on Wednesday. They shut out Potomac twice in three days after Greg Billo and Leondy Perez did the honors on Monday. Despite being tied for the second-fewest shutouts in the CL, Wilmington (3.29) trails only tonight's foe, Myrtle Beach (2.79), for the honor of best team ERA in the loop.

WE WANT A HITTER: Cheslor Cuthbert became the 13th different 2012 Blue Rock to serve as the DH on Wednesday. He went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. The double was his first extra-base hit in 15 games since hitting a homer at Potomac on May 6. After serving as the Rocks' everyday three-hole hitter from the start of the season until May 17, Cuthbert has spent most days in the fifth position. Over his last three games, he has gone 5-for-12 (.417) with a pair of RBIs.

BO KNOWS: Catcher Jose Bonilla was strong in his season debut. After being received from extended spring training on Tuesday, he had three hits in his first three at-bats on Wednesday including a double and an RBI. The last time Bonilla had a three-hit game came against the same Nationals at Potomac on May 13, 2011. That was one of his two efforts with three hits or more in 76 CL games.

INDIVISIBLE: With wins in seven of their last eight games, the Blue Rocks stand 3.5 games back of first-place Lynchburg in the Northern Division. The recently-completed Potomac set marked the penultimate series against divisional competition for the Blue Crew this stanza. Entering tonight, 22 of Wilmington's 25 remaining games this half will pit it against Southern Division squads. Entering today, the North has a composite record of 81-93 (.466) while the South stands at 94-82 (.534). Three of the four teams in the North have a losing record compared with one of the four in the South.

CLEAN SWEEP: The Rocks are fresh off their first series sweep of the season. The last broom cleaning came at the expense of Frederick to close out the 2011 regular season. The Keys then went on to win the Mills Cup championship while the Blue Crew missed the playoffs for a second straight year.

FAMILIAR FACES: For the 16th time this season, Jansen Visconti and Rich Gonzalez combined to umpire a game involving the Rocks on Wednesday. They have arbitrated 36% of Wilmington's games on the year.

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Carolina League Stories from May 25, 2012


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