NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Game Notes: September 1, 2014

September 1, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


ROCKS ELIMINATED: The Blue Rocks were eliminated from postseason contention after falling to Salem, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon at Frawley Stadium. Brett Eibner's RBI single to right-center in the fourth drove home Bubba Starling with the first run of the ballgame, giving the Blue Rocks a short-lived 1-0 advantage. However, Salem answered immediately in the fifth inning and plated two to take a 2-1 lead. The Red Sox never looked back from there. With the loss, Wilmington dropped to 31-37 in the second half and to a season-low eight games below the .500 mark overall at 64-72.

SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR: Wilmington's elimination on Sunday came after a rough stretch of baseball for the club. held a half-game lead on Lynchburg in the Wild Card race as recently as August 24. However, the Rocks slumped down the stretch to a 3-9 record in their last 12 games. Only once in its last eight games has the Blue Crew plated more than one run - that was during an 8-0 win over Potomac on Thursday. Blue Crew last made the playoffs in 2012, when the Lynchburg Hillcats downed them by taking 2-of-3.

MIGHTY MIGUEL: Miguel Almonte made his fourth start on Sunday since missing two weeks with minor discomfort in his elbow. The righty was tremendous and turned in his longest outing since July 19. Almonte hurled five innings and yielded just two runs (one earned) on five hits. He walked only one and struck out five. In his most recent start, on August 26 against Potomac at Frawley Stadium, Almonte threw, perhaps, his best four-innings of the year. He hurled four shutout innings while yielding just one hit. He walked one and struck out seven. Prior to his August 15 start against Winston-Salem, Almonte had not pitched since July 31 in Lynchburg, when he was lifted in the third inning with minor elbow discomfort. Overall this season, Almonte is 6-8 with a 4.49 ERA in 23 appearances (22 starts). He has 101 punchouts and 32 walks in 110.1 innings pitched. The righty has also yielded 107 hits and 60 runs (55 earned) in 2014. Opposing batters are hitting .259 against Almonte. Lefties are batting .290 against him while righties are hitting just .236.

STRUGGLES WITH SALEM: Wilmington has struggled mightily with Salem this year. Saturday's twin-bill sweep at the hands of the Red Sox dropped the Rocks to 5-14 overall against Salem. The Blue Crew is 3-6 this year against the Red Sox at Frawley Stadium while Wilmington finished the campaign just 2-8 at Salem Memorial Ballpark. Three of the defeats in Salem came in walk-off fashion. Blue Rocks hitters are batting a combined .197 against the Red Sox this year, while Salem hitters are batting a collective .270 against Wilmington in 2014. The Red Sox have outscored the Blue Rocks in this year's head-to-head matchups, 69-47, while Wilmington has out-homered them, 7-5. Salem's pitching staff has a 1.92 ERA against the Blue Rocks while Wilmington's pitching staff has amassed a 3.19 ERA against the Red Sox.

GETTING THE CALL: Several former Blue Rocks were called up to the Major Leagues today by the Kansas City Royals, including 2014 Blue Crew members Terrance Gore and Brandon Finnegan. Gore played in 89 games for Wilmington this year and batted .218 with eight doubles and a triple. He also stole a team-best 36 bases. After his promotion to Triple-A Omaha on August 6, Gore batted .250 wtih a .348 on-base percentage in 17 games. Finnegan, the No. 19 overall pick in this year's draft, made five starts for the Blue Rocks and went 0-1 with a 0.60 ERA. He struck out 13 and walked just two. He was promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas on August 2. With the Naturals, Finnegan went 0-3 with a 2.25 ERA in eight solid relief appearances. Also called up by Kansas City was Lane Adams, who played in parts of the 2013 and 2014 seasons with the Blue Rocks. In 155 games across two seasons with Wilmington, Adams hit .260 with 13 homers, 64 RBIs and 31 stolen bases.

THEY SAID IT, BENCH COACH JUSTIN GEMOLL: "It had a little bit of everything in it. I thought we did a good job coming out [of the gate], Bubba [Starling] getting on base early and stealing second to get into scoring position. Then [Brett] Eibner gets a big hit to give us the lead, put us in front. Unfortunately we couldn't hold it like that. They ended up getting a couple of runs in the top of the next inning...I thought [Miguel] Almonte threw the ball well today even though they did get a couple of runs on him. I thought he threw his fastball for strikes and mixed in the slider and the changeup. I thought he competed well out there. That's baseball, you're not going to throw a shutout every time you go out there, but I thought he competed well and did a good job...We were talking about that, the only day you're going to feel great is the day before spring training starts. Otherwise, as the season goes on it wears on your body. That's where the mental toughness comes in, just knowing that this is your job. You come out everyday and give it what you've got. Some days you feel better than others. It's a long season. They've been doing a good job of going out everyday and working to improve their skills and then competing as hard as they can on the field, that's all I can ask...I think baseball in general, as far as winning ballgames, it's about how you hit with runners in scoring position. A lot of [struggling with runners in scoring position], with the young kids is that they get really anxious and they end up swinging at pitches that aren't there. So if they can work on their patience [they'll be fine]. It's a tough thing, you see it in the Majors Leagues too, guys chase pitches with runners in scoring position. It's a common thing. If the young hitters just learn how to compete, get a good pitch to hit; staying within themselves is a big thing...Our relievers have been good all year. They got a couple of guys on base and [our pitchers] left some pitches up in the zone and they put some good swings on them. One of them was a line drive to left center and Bubba just slipped in the rain and fell and it went for a triple. Things like that happen. They did a great job for us all year so it's hard to fault those guys...This ball- parks is the same as it was when I played here. It's definitely big and it's not a home run ball- park by any means unless you catch it on a day where the wind is howling out, which doesn't happen too often. On the other side of that, it teaches hitters how to hit line drives and keep the ball out of the air. You'll see that in the minor leagues at various ballparks; some are easier to hit at, some are not. That's part of the game and learning how to compete in different elements."

Today's Starters

WIL: RHP Brooks Pounders (0-1, 3.09)

vs.

SAL: RHP Heri Quevedo (1-1, 3.38)

Brooks Pounders returns to the Blue Rocks for a second stint as he rehabs from surgery at the end of last season. Pounders'road to recovery this year began in Idaho Falls, where he went 0-1 with a 4.80 ERA in six games (five starts). In his last two starts for the Chukars, Pounders gave up just two runs (one earned) on six hits over a combined 8.2IP. The 6-foot-5 right-hander made his first Blue Rocks start of the year on August 22 in Salem. He gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits in five innings pitched. Pounders walked one and struck out six that night. Pounders is in his sixth season as a pro. He was a second-round pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2009 Draft and was traded to the Kansas City Royals in December of 2011. He was sent along with Diego Goris to the Royals in exchange for Yamaico Navarro. In 2012, during his first stint with Wilmington, Pounders went 6-4 with a 4.32 ERA in 16 games (15 sttarts). He struck out 75 and walked 25 in 83.1 innings pitched with the Blue Rocks. Pounders' claim-to-fame is the complete-game no- hitter he threw last season at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. The big right-hander accomplished the feat on June 27, 2013. He struck out six, did not walk a batter and the only baserunner he gave up was on a hit-by-pitch. Overall at Double-A in 2013, he posted a 5-7 record and a 4.50 ERA in 27 games (19 starts). Pounders owns a career 24-24 record and 4.10 ERA in 122 games (56 starts). His father spent five Minor League seasons with the San Diego Padres.

Right-hander Heri Quevedo makes his fourth Advanced-A start of the season for the Salem Red Sox. He began the year with Short Season-A Lowell in the New York-Penn League. Things did not go well there for Quevedo, who posted a 5-3 record and a 7.17 ERA. The 24-year-old spent the majority of the 2013 campaign with the Red Sox and had much better success. He was 6-4 a year ago with a 4.18 ERA in 23 Carolina League appearances (11 starts). Quevedo played a pivotal role in Salem's 2013 Mills Cup victory. He hurled seven shutout innings in the opening game of the Mills Cup Finals. Quevedo was solid against the Blue Rocks on August 22, as well. He gave up three runs on five hits in six innings pitched while striking out seven. The Red Sox signed Quevedo in June, 2012, as an international free agent. According to SoxProspects.com, Quevedo's fastball "gets up to the mid-90s, but sits 92-94 mph... [his] changeup is like a fastball he took something off [that] works 83-85 m.p.h. generally."


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

Carolina League Stories from September 1, 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.

Other Recent Wilmington Blue Rocks Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central