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Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Blue Rocks Game Notes: July 16, 2014

July 16, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


WASHED AWAY: Monday night's contest between the Wilmington Blue Rocks and the Salem Red Sox at Frawley Stadium was postponed due to rain. It was the 12th rainout of the season for the Blue Rocks. The game will be made up when the Red Sox return to town for the season's final homestand, August 30 - September 1. A specific date and time will be announced later. Both contests in the twin-bill will be seven innings in length.

FRUSTRATING 48 HOURS OF MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Wilmington went hitless with runners in scoring position on Sunday, picking up right where they left off during Saturday's setback when,Wilmington had multiple late chances to break a 1-1 deadlock. The Rocks left the bases loaded in the sixth inning. In the home half of the seventh, Wilmington had Terrance Gore at third base with less than two outs and still couldn't score. The Blue Crew left two more runners on base in the eighth. In the ninth the Rocks had the tying run reach third base, and the winning run aboard at first, but failed to push either across. Wilmington has left 20 men on base over the last two games, and have gone a combined 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position. That has been an issue for the Rocks all season. Wilmington is batting just .218 with men at second and/or third base in 2014.

MARVELOUS MICHAEL ANTONIO: Despite the quiet offensive night for the Blue Rocks, Michael Antonio was able to author another strong perfromance at the plate. Wilmington's designated hitter finished the evening 2-for-3 with a run, a triple and a walk. After struggling when he was called up from Low-A Lexington in May, Antonio has done nothing but hit since. He batted .161 in 18 May games, hit .328 in 18 June contests and is hitting .321 in eight July games. Since the All-Star Break, Antonio is batting at a .382 clip with nine runs, seven doubles, two triples, two homers and 10 RBIs in 15 games. The right- handed slugger has been at his best with runners on base. He's hitting .297 with runners aboard and .225 with the bases empty. Overall this season, Antonio is batting .260 with 24 runs, 13 doubles, two triples, four homers and 24 RBIs in 44 games for the Blue Crew.

SECOND-HALF STAR: After Miguel Almonte allowed four runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings, Wilmington's bullpen turned in another outstanding effort on Sunday night. Zeb Sneed followed Almonte and tossed 3.1 scoreless innings. Sneed yielded just one hit and one walk while fanning two. He is now 3-2 this season with a 2.22 ERA in 26 appearances. Johnny Walter took his turn next and hurled a scoreless eighth inning. The only blemish on his record was a base on balls. Walter is 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA in 19 appearances this year. Yender Caramo wrapped things up with a solid ninth inning. He did allow a run on one hit, but it was an unearned tally. Caramo has posted a 2-5 record in 2014 to go along with a 2.93 ERA in 21 outings. As a whole, Wilmington's bullpen has been tremendous this year. Collectively, Blue Crew relievers have posted a 19-14 record and 2.89 ERA. They have struck out 278, walked 96 and given up 259 hits in 308.2 innings pitched.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER DARRYL KENNEDY: "[Miguel Almonte] wasn't command- ing very well tonight. He was missing with all of his pitches, falling behind in the count and having to come down the middle of the plate. It finally caught up to him in that fourth inning...I'm trying to shuffle around a little bit and give some guys off. Even though we've had some rainouts we're still at the ballpark all day and guys are starting to wear down a little bit. Cody [Stubbs] did a good job. He's been reliable for us in a few different positions and he made a nice catch for us and brought in our only run...[Michael Antonio] has been swinging the bat really well and has been good for us. We've just got to get some guys around him to get hot again. [Mark] Threlkeld is going through [a slump] right now, but hopefully we can come out tomorrow and put a good game together and have a nice day off and get back at it...Zeb [Sneed]'s done it for us all year like that and he really picked us up after coming in early in the game there. He did a nice job."

THEY SAID IT, DESIGNATED HITTER MICHAEL ANTONIO: "I knew the count [when hitting the triple] so I was just looking for something I could drive but not really trying to do too much. Sometimes when I try to do too much, that's when I pull off. I try to keep it simple and stay short to the ball and just get a good pitch to drive...This is baseball, there's days when you're going to go 0-for-4, 0-for-8, 0-for-12...maturity in a ball player is putting things behind you and just coming in the next day looking to come out positive."

GAME TWO STARTING PITCHER, SEAN MANAEA: After the summer of 2012, many thought Sean Manaea would be the No. 1 overall pick in last June's draft. While pitching in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in 2012, Manaea put together one of the most dominant pitching seasons the league had ever seen. He went 5-1 with a 1.21 ERA that summer, while throwing his fastball between 94 and 96 m.p.h. Manaea's 85 strikeouts set a modern-day Cape League record, eclipsing Josh Bard's 82 in 2005. Last spring at Indiana State, however, a series of unfortunate injuries led to a drop in velocity and, in turn, Manaea's draft stock falling. Manaea hurt his ankle and then his hip and his shoulder. Kansas City still drafted him 34th overall last June and signed him to a $3.55 million bonus. He had surgery after the draft to repair a torn hip labrum and did not pitch professionally in 2013. Manaea will make his 17th start of the season in Wednesday's nightcap against the Potomac Nationals. In his last outing on July 10 against the same P-Nats, the southpaw tossed five innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits over five innings. The 6-foot-5 hurler has now gotten past the fourth inning in nine of his 16 starts. His longest outing of the year came on June 26, a 6.1-inning outing against the Lynchburg Hillcats. He gave up three runs on four hits that night. The talented southpaw's 86 punchouts place him just outside of the Carolina League's top five.

Today's Game One Starters

WIL: LHP Brandon Finnegan (0-0, 0.00)

vs.

POT: RHP Blake Schwartz ()

Highly-regarded hurler Brandon Finnegan makes his second professional start in the opener of Wednesday night's doubleheader in Potomac. In his first pro start on July 10, also against the P-Nats at Pfitzner Stadium, Finnegan hurled two perfect frames and fanned one. The Kansas City Royals selected Finnegan No. 17 overall in the First Round of the 2014 Draft. He played collegiately for TCU and dazzled across three fantastic seasons there. With TCU, Finnegan posted a career 13-16 record and 2.77 ERA. He struck out 276 and walked 94 there across 247.1 innings. However, his final season is the one that really stood out. Finnegan went 9-3 with a 2.04 ERA, 234 strikeouts and 29 walks in 105.2 innings pitched this spring. He was a standout performer while leading TCU to just its second College World Series berth in school history. Finnegan was named First-Team All- Big 12 for his efforts and a third-team all-American by Louisville Slugger, Baseball America and Perfect Game. He was also drafted out of high school in the 45th Round of the 2011 Draft by the Texas Rangers.

Right-hander Blake Schwartz makes his eighth appearance (sixth start) of the year in the opener Wednesday night against the Blue Rocks. The Rosemount, Minnesota, native has posted a 2-0 record and a 3.75 ERA this year while striking out 11 and walking nine in 24 innings pitched. Lefties are batting .263 against Schwartz, while righties are hitting .200. Schwartz began the campaign with Double-A Harrisburg but went 0-7 with a 7.04 ERA in eight starts there. In his career, Schwartz owns a 16-14 record and a 3.52 ERA in 54 games (49 starts). He has 188 career strikeouts and 65 career walks in 263.2 frames on the mound. He was tremendous with the P-Nats in 2013, posting an 11-4 record and 2.65 ERA in 23 starts. The 6-foot-3 hurler has faced the Blue Crew once this season. In his last start, on July 10, he threw five shutout frames and yielded just two base hits. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. Schwartz attended Oklahoma City University. He was Washington's 17th Round pick in the 2012 Draft.

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