CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rain, Two-Run Potomac Fifth Evens Series

Published on May 8, 2013 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


WILMINGTON, DE- Hurt by a two-run fifth and mother nature, Wilmington came up a run short against Potomac, as the Nationals claimed 3-2 rain-shortened victory at Frawley Stadium on Wednesday night. With five innings completed, rain halted play one batter into the sixth, as the tarp was called for by home plate umpire JJ January. Although the rain started to die down a few minutes before nine, the field was deemed unplayable, causing the game to be called after a 49-minute delay.

Held to only one run on Tuesday night, Potomac grabbed an early lead off Blue Rocks southpaw Sam Selman (1-2). Billy Burns earned a four-pitch walk to open the contest and moved to second on a wild pitch. Later in the frame, he would score on a base hit to right by Jason Martinson.

Nationals starter Robbie Ray (3-1) looked dominant over his first two innings, facing one over the minimum while recording three strikeouts. But in the third, the lefty made a two-out mistake to Justin Trapp. After falling behind in the count, Ray grooved Trapp an elevated fastball, which the South Carolina native deposited over the leftfield fence. It was Trapp's second longball of the season, and evened the score at a run apiece.

Following a tough start, Selman found his footing over the next three frames, but lost his command again in the fifth. Francisco Soriano and Adrian Sanchez each reached on walks, before Selman hit Randolph Oduber to load the bases. Still in search of an out, the Blue Crew starter got Burns to ground into a fielder's choice, but a sacrifice fly by Michael Taylor pushed the go-ahead run across one batter later. Potomac also added an insurance run on a wild pitch, before Vance Wilson made the call to the bullpen.

With rain on the way, and Wilmington looking at the chance of only one last at-bat, the Blue Rocks battled against Ray in the home fifth. Putting together one of his best plate appearences of the year, Jack Lopez earned a walk after 11 pitches to put the leadoff man aboard. He moved up to second on another free pass issued to Parker Morin, while a wild pitch moved both men into scoring position. In the end though, only one run would score via a fielder's choice by Chris Elder.

Down by a run, Wilmington would not get another chance to bat, as rain halted play one batter into the sixth inning. The game would be called 49 minutes later, on account of rain, as the two teams had met the requisite five innings for an official game.

Wilmington plays the final game of its three-game series on Thursday night at 6:35 from Frawley Stadium. Right-hander Aaron Brooks (0-3, 5.70) takes the ball for Wilmington, and will be opposed by the Carolina League's ERA leader Taylor Jordan (2-1, 1.24). Fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM, or on Bluerocks.com. For ticket information call 302-888-BLUE or visit Bluerocks.com

Pebbles of Knowledge:

Wednesday's loss marks the Blue Rocks first in a rain-shortened game this year. While the rain eventually subsided, the outfield and warning tracks were covered in puddles, causing the umpires to call the game. Ironically, the last time the Blue Rocks played a rain shortened game, it came against the Potomac Nationals. Meeting on September 3, 2012 (the final day of the 2012 regular season) the game was called in the middle of the sixth due to rain. Like on Wednesday, the P-Nats were also winners of that earlier rain-shortened affair 3-0.

A night after Wilmington held its opposition to a season-low two hits, the Blue Rocks pitching staff surrendered only one hit over five rain-shortened frames. Unfortunately, the new-season low did not result in a victory, as Sam Selman and Antonio Cruz combined to walk six batters. Five of the walks were issued by Selman, who also hit two batters and threw a pair of wild pitches. Most of those command struggles came in the fifth inning, when the native Texan allowed the first three batters to reach (walk, walk, hit-by-pitch) before a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch brought home a pair.

Justin Trapp provided the lone spark offensively for the Blue Crew. With his team down 1-0 in the home third, Trapp clocked a 2-0 fastball over the leftfield wall for his second round tripper of 2013. On the season, Wilmington has gone deep 13 times, but most of the team's home runs have come on the road. Trapp's was only the fourth big fly by a member of the Rocks at Frawley Stadium this year, while all four have gone to leftfield. In contrast, opponents have hit five dingers on the Riverfront this season.

The loss by the Blue Crew brings an end to the team's four-game home winning streak. Starting on April 30, Vance Wilson's team took three straight from the Salem Red Sox before securing a 4-1 win over Potomac on Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium. Wednesday's defeat also drops the team to 4-3 in the month of May, after the club started the month 3-0.

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Carolina League Stories from May 8, 2013


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