NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Wilmington Blue Rocks

Pelicans Spoil Manaea's Professional Debut

April 9, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - Tuesday's home opener at Frawley Stadium featured a debut, a home run and all of the usual pomp and circumstance that comes with the occasion - except a win for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The Myrtle Beach Pelicans came to the Riverfront Tuesday night looking for their first win of the season, and they got just that with a 5-3 victory over the Blue Rocks. Wilmington has now lost three in a row to fall to 2-3, while Myrtle Beach is now 1-4.

Left-hander Sean Manaea, the No. 6 prospect in the Kansas City Royals organization, took the mound Tuesday for the Blue Crew but struggled in his professional debut. Manaea allowed four runs on three hits while striking out five over his 3.1 innings of work. However, Manaea only allowed one run over his first three innings of work, showing off his electric fastball and slider, before finally tiring in the fourth.

Highly-touted catcher Jorge Alfaro got the fourth inning started with a single for the Pelicans. After Slugger Joey Gallo struck out, Royce Bolinger was hit by a pitch and Preston Beck lined a base hit to center. That loaded the bases for Myrtle Beach with just one out. Blue Rocks manager Darryl Kennedy then lifted Manaea, who had reached his pitch count, for righty Ali Williams. Hanser Alberto greeted Williams with an RBI single to left, driving in Alfaro and Bolinger, while Beck moved to second. Zach Cone drove in Beck with another single, before Williams was finally able to stop the bleeding.

Myrtle Beach starting pitcher Luis Parra stifled the Blue Rocks' bats for four innings before allowing his first hit of the ballgame to Cody Stubbs leading off the fifth. That kicked off a Blue Rocks rally that sent Frawley Stadium into a frenzy. After Stubbs' single, Terrance Gore dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second. Then Raul A. Mondesi singled to put a pair of runners on with only one out for slugger Bubba Starling. Starling proceeded to belt a three-run blast to right field, pulling the Blue Rocks to within 4-3.

However, that was as close as the Blue Rocks would get, as Myrtle Beach tacked on an insurance run in the seventh inning off of reliever Glenn Sparkman. The big blow came in the form of an RBI single from Nick Williams, who drove in Odubal Herrera from second. Herrera had led off the inning with a double.

The Blue Rocks return to action Wednesday morning for game two against Myrtle Beach. Yender Caramo will make his first start of the season for the Blue Crew, while Victor Payano makes his second start for Myrtle Beach. First pitch is slated for 10:35 a.m., and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Zane Evans had been the hottest Blue Rock at the plate entering Tuesday's game, but the slugging catcher out of Georgia Tech saw his four-game hitting streak come to an end against the Pelicans. During his season-opening streak, Evans recorded 10 hits - six of which were doubles. Even though Evans did not get a hit Tuesday, he did manage to extend his on-base streak to five games with a fourth inning walk. Evans is the only Blue Rock to reach base in each of Wilmington's five games this season.

Sean Manaea entered his first professional start Tuesday night with a lot of hype. The Kansas City Royals selected Manaea No. 34 overall in last June's draft and he began the 2014 season as the Royals' No. 6 prospect according to Baseball America. Manaea did not pitch professionally in 2013 due to a torn hip labrum suffered last spring while playing collegiately at Indiana State. He had surgery on his hip immediately after he signed with the Royals. Tuesday night was Manaea's first regular season start since May 16, when he pitched five innings and allowed just one unearned run for Indiana State.

After hitting just 29 homers at Frawley Stadium in 2013, the Blue Rocks got one Tuesday night in their very first home game of the 2014 campaign. It came in the form of a three-run homer from Bubba Starling in the fifth inning that brought Wilmington to within 4-3. Starling's homer was a low, line drive, to right field that cleared the fence in a hurry. Starling hit 13 home runs last season at Low-A Lexington, and he hit 10 out of the park at Rookie-Level Idaho Falls in 2012. Prior to Tuesday night, Starling's most recent homer was during a 13-4 Lexington loss to Augusta on August 28 last season. Starling went 3-5 that day and drove in three runs.

The Blue Rocks have managed to get plenty of runners on base over the past three games. They had nine hits both Saturday and Sunday against Winston-Salem, as well as five hits and five walks Tuesday. However, aside from Bubba Starling's three-run homer Tuesday they have struggled coming up with clutch hits. Wilmington stranded nine runners on Saturday, 13 on Sunday and seven on Tuesday. Even more concerning is the fact that seven of the runners Saturday, eight of the runners Sunday, and three of the runners Tuesday were stranded in scoring position.

THEY SAID IT:

Manager Darryl Kennedy:

"I think [Sean Manaea] was a little hyped up. He threw the ball well for three innings. He was on kind of a limited pitch count, as well. I thought he pitched okay, but he wasn't as sharp as I've seen him in Spring Training. I think he was a little jacked up out there on the mound and ran out of gas there at the end."

"It's definitely frustrating but that's baseball. Bubba [Starling] was 1-2 tonight with runners in scoring position and less than two outs. One time he hits a three-run homer, and the next time he strikes out. It happens in baseball. Yes, it's frustrating; you'd love to get contact right there and maybe get one run and now it's a different ballgame. You know, you have to give them credit, too. They pitched well."

Bubba Starling:

"I think we were all taking some decent swings today. Unfortunately, everything was going at everyone. On that home run, he got up on me and then I kind of fought back and got him to a 3-2 count. He left a fastball up and out and I just kind of threw my hands at it and it went out."

Sean Manaea:

"It was the largest crowd I've ever pitched in front of. It was pretty awesome to see all these fans out here for the first game even though it was kind of cold. I had a great time out there."

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...

Carolina League Stories from April 9, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central