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Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Blue Rocks Game Notes

August 25, 2016 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


FRI August 26 vs. MB 7:05 p.m. RHP Jeremy Null (3-5, 4.79) vs. LHP Matt Tenuta (7-8, 5.13) WGLS-FM 89.7 SAT August 27 vs. MB 7:05 p.m. RHP James Pugliese (5-5, 4.25) vs. RHP Derek Gordon (2-1, 4.66) WGLS-FM 89.7 SUN August 28 vs. MB 1:35 p.m. RHP Erick Leal (10-4, 2.94) vs. LHP Foster Griffin (4-9, 6.36) WGLS-FM 89.7 RADIO: Rowan Radio, 89.7 WGLS-FM

WEBCAST: wgls.rowan.edu or bluerocks.com Wilmington Blue Rocks Game Notes BLUE ROCKS BREAKDOWN HOME: 28-37 | AWAY: 21-41| STREAK: L-2 | LAST 5: 3-2 | LAST 10: 6-4 MEDIA INFORMATION Lynchburg Hillcats (80-49/35-24, 1st N, -- GB) Carolina League Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians vs.

Wilmington Blue Rocks (49-78/22-36 4th N, 12.5 GB) Carolina League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals Game No. 128 - Away Game No. 63 - Calvin Falwell Field - Thursday - 6:30 p.m. ROAD WOES CONTINUE: The best offense in the Carolina League showed why on Wednesday at Calvin Falwell Field. The Lynchburg Hillcats hit two homers and scored five two-out runs on their way to an 8-3 rout of the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Wilmington's pitch- ing staff has allowed six long balls over the first two contests of this series, losing both games. The setback was the Rocks' ninth straight on the road, their longest such streak of the season.

TWO-OUT MAGIC: The Blue Rocks have been incredibly productive with two outs over the first two games of this series in Lynchburg. Wilmington has scored six of its seven runs with two-out RBI over the previous 48 hours. Brandon Downes and Luis Villegas each hit two-out homers on Tuesday, while Mike Hill scored Robert Pehl on a two-out single. On Wednesday all of the Rocks' runs came courtesy of two-out RBI. Anderson Miller registered one with an infield single, and then Austin Bailey and Carlos Diaz picked up traditional two-out singles in the fourth. Unfortunately for the Rocks, Lynchburg had some two-out suc- cess of its own on Wednesday, scoring five times with two-out, run-scoring hits.

NO LOVE FROM LYNCHBURG: The Blue Rocks have had their problems with the Lynchburg Hillcats this season. Wilmington has lost 13 of its 18 meetings with the first-half CL North champs in 2016. One of the Blue Crew's biggest problems has been the long ball. Lynchburg has 31 home runs against the Wilmington staff this season--14 more than any other foe has managed versus the Rocks. Bobby Bradley hit two dingers in Tuesday's series opener, which was only the second time the Rocks have allowed one player to hit multiple dingers in a single contest this season. The other was also a Hillcat. Anthony Santander did it at Frawley Stadium on July 16. Bradley added his third dinger of the series on Wednesday, while Tanner Murphy hit his first of the season against the Blue Crew.

DOWNING ALL COMERS: Brandon Downes has clubbed his way out of a recent slump. Entering Saturday's game against Carolina, the UVA product was just 3-for-his- last-33 at the plate. But Downes now has registered at least one hit and scored at least one run in each of the last three contests. He doubled, drove in two runs and scored another in a win over the Mudcats on Saturday, then followed that up with a double and a solo homer on Tuesday at Lynchburg before adding two more hits and scoring a run on Wednesday. The 23-year-old New Jersey native leads the Blue Rocks in homers (12), RBI (63), dou- bles (32) and extra-base hits (46) in 2016.

SECOND-HALF POWER SURGE: The Rocks are swinging the big sticks since the All- Star break. After hitting just 25 home runs in 69 games in the first half of the season, the Rocks have smacked 30 long balls through the first 58 games of the second half. They hit three homers on July 9, which tied for the most in any game by Wilmington in 2016. Brandon Downes leads the club with 12 home runs (including two grand slams).Austin Bailey joined the homer parade on July 29, launching his first career Advanced-A long ball. It had been 82 games since the infielder had hit a home run with his last long ball coming against the Hagerstown Sun back on September 5, 2015. Luis Villegas also got in on the act on August 3 against Salem, hitting two dingers. It was the cacther's first home run since since August 31, 2015 with Low-A Lexington, and only the second two-homer performance by a Blue Rock in 2016. Mike Hill turned in the third two-dinger game on Tuesday vs. the P-Nats, belting the first two dingers of his Advanced-A career. Ryan O'Hearn had the other multi-homer game on April 15 at Potomac). Samir Duenez has also been monumental in the long-ball spike, with seven since joining the team at the All-Star break. Despite the power surge, Wilmington still has the third-fewest total homers in 2016 with 53.

EXPANDING TO TEN: Minor League Baseball announced on Monday that the Carolina League will add two teams for the 2017 season as part of a broader realignment. The California League's Bakersfield Blaze and High Desert Mavericks will cease opera- tions at the completion of the 2016 season. The 2017 season will see a return of profes- sional baseball to Kinston, North Carolina. Kinston served as the home of Carolina League clubs from 1956-57, 1962-74 and 1978-2011. Several locations are under consid- eration for the second Carolina League club, with Fayetteville, North Carolina having made steady progress toward a stadium that would see play beginning with the 2019 season. Fayetteville served as the home of a Carolina League club from 1950-56, and as the home of a South Atlantic League club from 1987-2000. The Kinston club will be owned by the Texas Rangers, who have a 12-year agreement with the city of Kinston to provide a team to play at historic Grainger Stadium. The city of Fayetteville recently approved a memorandum of understanding, a key step toward a new downtown ballpark. The affiliate and ownership of that club will be announced at a later date, and the club would play in a temporary location until the ballpark is completed.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER JAMIE QUIRK: "It was a nice two-strike base hit from Austin (Bailey). It was an 0-2 count as a matter of fact. A very nice swing that tied the game up and then (Carlos) Diaz came up next and got us in the lead at 3-2, which was big for us at the time. It gave us a little bit of momentum. Unfortunately, they came back out and scored on us in the next inning and got the lead and never let it go back. I think with (Anderson) Miller it has just been a case of him getting used to lefties at this level. Cause he had a good swing against a lefty in this one. He's seen lefties obviously his entire career, but he was hurt in Lexington and he got hurt here and had to miss some time so it's just a matter of him getting consistent at bats." Today's Starters WIL: RHP Corey Ray (7-6, 4.86) vs.

LYN: LHP Thomas Pannone (2-0, 2.49) Corey Ray was selected in the fifth round of the 2014 Draft by the Royals out of Texas A&M. The Aggie went 6-1 as a junior with a 1.91 ERA in 37.2 innings pitched. Before his time at Col- lege Station, Ray attended Klein High in Spring, Texas, where he helped the school to consecutive state tounrament appear- ances. Ray pitched well in his first season of professional ball, posting a 3.05 ERA despite a 1-2 record with the Burlington Royals in 2014. He struck out 26 batters in 44.1 innings pitched while walking only 10 and allowing just one homer. Ray though had issues in his first full season as a pro, pitching to a 5-7 mark and a 6.06 ERA with Low-A Lexington in 2015. Home runs were the issue last season, surrendering six long balls in 107 innings pitched. He recovered to go 2-1 with a 3.92 ERA this season in Lexington before earning a mid-May promotion to Wilmington. With the Rocks he has been up and down. He endured a three-start rouh patch, which saw him yield 19 runs over 12.1 frames and post an 0-3 record. He bounced back in his last two outings, however, allowing just two runs (one earned) while fanning six in a no decision at Salem before tossing seven innings without yielding an earned run against Potomac.

Thomas Pannone gets the ball tonight for Lynchburg. It is only his fifth start and his second against the Blue Rocks. So far, so good though for the 6-foot, 190-pound southpaw. In his first ap- pearance with the Hillcats Pannone entered a suspended game n the third inning and tossed 5.1 frames of one-run ball at Caro- lina on July 13. He started against the Mudcats eight days later and allowed just a single hit over seven scoreless innings. The effort was so impressive that Pannone earned Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors. In his lone start against the Rocks Pannone yielded four runs (two earned) and lasted just 2.2 frames. He began the campaign in Low-A Lake County where he posted a scant 3.02 ERA in 17 starts with 84 strikeouts and only 25 free passes. Pannone also pitched for Lake County last season, spliting time between the rotation and the bullpen, and posting a solid 4.02 ERA. He spent his first two seasons of pro- fessional ball in the Arizona Rookie League. The 22-year-old Providence, RI native was a ninth-round pick by Cleveland in the 2013 draft out of the College of Southern Nevada. He split his time between pitching and playing the outfield in both high school and junior college.

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