Blue Rocks Offense Quiet In Doubleheader Sweep By Salem
August 30, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release
Wilmington, DE - The Blue Rocks were shut out in both ends of Saturday night's doubleheader against Salem, with the Red Sox taking the opener, 5-1, and the nightcap, 3-0. Wilmington managed just one run and six hits combined between the two contests. With the pair of defeats, the Rocks fell to 31-36 in the second half and to 64-71 overall. The Blue Crew sits two games behind both Frederick and Lynchburg with two contests to go. To make the playoffs, Wilmington would have to win out while both Lynchburg and Frederick lose out, forcing a one-game playoff in Lynchburg.
The nightcap was a pitchers duel between Luis Santos and Jonathan Aro. Santos hurled 5.1 scoreless frames and yielded just three hits. Aro threw five shutout innings and also allowed three hits.
Salem finally broke through in the top of the seventh inning and put a three-spot on the board against Zeb Sneed. Matt Gedman's RBI single down the line in right broke the scoreless tie and drove home Mario Martinez, who had reached on a fielder's choice grounder. Later in the frame, Leonel Escobar doubled to left-center, scoring both Dreily Guerrero and Kendrick Perkins to make it 3-0 Red Sox. Guerrero was pinch-running for Gedman while Perkins had reached on a walk.
In the opener, the Red Sox plated three first-inning runs off of Glenn Sparkman to take a 3-0 lead. Salem's rally began when Matty Johnson reached on a fielding error by Jared Schlehuber. Jose Vinicio then doubled, putting runners at second and third with nobody out. Carlos Asuaje followed with a single to score both Johnson and Vinicio. Asuaje moved to second on a single by Jantzen Witte, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Reed Gragnani and scored on a sacrifice fly from Manuel Margot.
Salem tacked on two more tallies in the fifth inning, extending its lead to 5-0. Johnson and Vinicio delivered back-to-back singles to lead off the inning and advanced a bag each on a two-out walk by Gragnani. Manuel Margot delivered a two-run double that scored Johnson and Vinicio.
Brett Eibner's solo home run in the seventh and final frame of the opener provided the Blue Rocks with their lone tally of the night.
Sparkman battled through some command problems in the opener and he walked a season-high three batters. He gave up five runs - also a season-high - on six hits in five innings pitched.
Pat Light (6-6, 4.93) was victorious for the Red Sox in the opener and Nate Reed (3-1, 3.83) picked up the win for Salem in game two. Sparkman (8-3, 1.56) took the loss for Wilmington in game one and Sneed (5-3, 2.71) suffered the defeat in the nightcap.
The Rocks return to action on Sunday for game three of four against Salem. Wilmington will send right-hander Miguel Almonte (6-7, 4.61) to the mound while Salem will counter with fellow righty Simon Mercedes (4-10, 5.08). First pitch is slated for 1:35 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM.
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Carolina League Stories from August 30, 2014
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