CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Three-Run Seventh Forces Rubber Match

Published on May 23, 2013 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


WILMINGTON, DE-A three-run seventh spelled trouble for the Wilmington Blue Rocks, as the Lynchburg Hillcats picked up the middle game of three on Wednesday night 5-1. In the inning, several controversial calls to go along with four errors allowed the Hillcats to send eight men to bat against the duo of Kyle Zimmer (0-4) and Antonio Cruz. With the loss, the Blue Crew fall to 21-24, while it sets up a rubber match on Thursday morning.

Zimmer faced only one over the minimum through his first two frames, before Matt Weaver provided a spark for the Hillcats in the visitors third. Going to a full count, Lynchburg's nine-hole hitter drove a fastball to the gap in rightfield, racing to third for a triple. He later scored on a base hit by Matt Lipka to make it 1-0.

Wilmington got the run back in the home-half of the frame. With two outs, Justin Trapp got hit by a pitch, setting up Daniel Mateo. Off a three-hit night on Tuesday, the switch-hitter tripled home his teammate splitting the rightfield gap. However, Hillcats pitching kept the Blue Rocks at bay for the rest of the night. Following the three-bagger by Mateo, Wilmington would muster only more hit the rest of the way.

Tied 1-1 through five frames, the Hillcats broke the deadlock in the sixth inning. Ahead in the count, Robby Hefflinger clubbed a solo homer to right, giving Lynchburg its first lead of the night.

That advantage ballooned one stanza later. Following a lead-off single by Luis De La Cruz, Lynchburg put on the hit and run with Elmer Reyes at the plate. Hitting a groundball up the middle, shortstop Kenny Diekroeger fielded it in stride, stepped on the bag, and then appeared to throw out Reyes at first, however both men were called safe by base umpire Junior Valentine. Manager Vance Wilson argued to avail, while a second error by Trapp loaded the bases, and brought Zimmer's night to a close.

With Antonio Cruz in the ballgame, the Hillcats quickly added two more runs. Matt Lipka grounded into a fielder's choice, but Trapp's throw went over the head of Mateo at first allowing two more runs to cross, while a single by David McGill scored Lipka, after a misplay in the outfield by Tyler Chism. In total, three runs came across to score, but only one went down as earned against a Rocks pitcher.

John Cornely and Nate Hyatt closed down the Blue Rocks in the eighth and ninth, combining on two scoreless innings. The duo of Ryan Weber and James Hoyt (3-1) were equally superb, tossing seven innings of one-run baseball while only surrendering three hits.

Wilmington and Lynchburg conclude their three-game affair on Thursday morning at Frawley Stadium. Left-hander John Lamb (2-4, 6.35) takes the hill for the Blue Crew and will be opposed by Hillcats righty Greg Ross (1-0, 4.50). First pitch is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. and can be heard on 89.7 WGLS-FM, or on Bluerocks.com. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit Bluerocks.com.

Pebbles of Knowledge:

Kyle Zimmer looked dominant at times, but ultimately suffered his fourth loss of the season due to a solo home run in the sixth and a handful of questionable calls which forced him out of the game following six-plus innings. On the year, the Blue Rocks are 1-8 in games where he starts. Although the loss was the right-hander's second-straight, it marked the first time he had worked into the seventh inning since May 4 against Lynchburg, where Zimmer carried a no-hitter into the sixth. Meanwhile, he used sound fastball command to record seven strikeouts, the most he had registered since late April.

It was a tough night in the field for Justin Trapp, who recorded two errors for the second time in a ballgame this season. This season, he has committed 11 errors, the most by any second baseman in the Carolina League, while almost half of them (five) have come over his last five contests. Despite his recent struggles in the field, Trapp has made up for it at the plate. On Wednesday, he extended his on-base streak to 13 games, and is hitting hitting .302 (13-43) with five runs batted in over his last 11 games.

Antonio Cruz saw his earned run average drop after Wednesday night's game, but his troubles with inherited runners continued. Allowing three inherited runners to come home, it marked the fourth consecutive game where the southpaw has allowed an inherited runner to score. Meanwhile over his last three games, he has allowed all six men he has inherited to come across. On the season, Cruz has stranded 67% of all runners he has taken on, while Wilmington as a club, has kept 77% of all inherited runners at bay.

The crux of the three-run Lynchburg seventh, were four Blue Rocks errors. Justin Trapp committed two, while Kenny Diekroeger and Tyler Chism each made one defensive miscue apiece. The four errors are the second most committed by Wilmington in a game this year, one short of the team's high water mark of five (which occurred on April 15 against Carolina. In addition the team has committed errors in its last four games.

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Carolina League Stories from May 23, 2013


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