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Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Bullpen Comes Through in Half-Closing Win

June 19, 2016 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Zebulon, NC - Four hits from Humberto Areaga and 4.1 scoreless frames from the Wilmington bullpen led the Wilmington Blue Rocks to a 4-3 win over the Carolina Mudcats on Sunday at Five County Stadium. The victory earned the Blue Crew a triumph in their four-day, six-game marathon series with the Mudcats, and was Wilmington's sixth win overall in its final nine games of the 2016 season's opening half.

Things did not start well for Foster Griffin and the Rocks. He allowed four of the first five batters to reach courtesy of two singles and a pair of walks. Carolina took a 1-0 lead on Keith Curcio's sacrifice fly to left, but failed to extend the advantage when Griffin induced an inning-ending double-play grounder by Jordan Edgerton with the bases loaded.

The second inning went even worse for Griffin. The lefty walked Reed Harper to start the frame and one out later allowed a single to Tanner Murphy. Griffin looked like he might escape the jam again when Stephen Gaylor hit a sharp grounder to first that might have been a double-play ball, but Robert Pehl had it bounce off his chest, allowing Harper to score and Murphy to reach third. Omar Obregone followed with a perfectly executed safety squeeze that plated Murphy and put the Mudcats up by three runs.

Humberto Arteaga got the Rocks on the board in the third with a one-out solo homer, his second of the season. The Carolina League All Star finished the last game of the first half 4-for-4 with a homer, an RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored.

Aretaga was right in the middle of the three-run rally that gave Wilmington the lead in the fifth. Brian Bien opened the inning with a single, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Cody Jones' soft line-drive single to center. Aretaga followed with a single to right that put runners at the corners with nobody out. After Wander Franco flied out to shallow right, Brandon Downes hit a sharp grounder right at Edgerton at third. Instead of turning two, Edgerton had the ball go right through his legs, and Jones scored to tie the game. After a double-steal by Arteaga and Downes, Elier Hernandez lifted a sacrifice fly to center that gave the Rocks a 4-3 lead.

Luis Rico (3-0) replaced Griffin with two down in the fifth and stranded an inherited runner. After working around a one-out walk in the sixth, he departed with two on and two down in the seventh. Jake Newberry entered and immediately extinguished the threat by striking out Edgerton. He left with a man at first and two down in the eighth, and Jake Kalish stranded that inherited runner and then recorded the final three outs for his first career Advanced-A save.

The Rocks are off for the next three days for the All-Star break before returning to action with a four-game trip to Winston-Salem on Thursday. Wilmington returns to Frawley Stadium on Monday, June 27 for a seven-game homestand. For tickets, or more information, the team's website is BlueRocks.com

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Austin Bailey continued to excel down the stretch of the first half. The middle infielder extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games with a second-inning single in his first at bat of the game. The designated hitter finished the day 1-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch on his ledger. Over his last seven contests Bailey is 9-for-29 with six RBI and three runs scored.

Chad Johnson's hitting streak came to a close on Friday during an 0-for-3 night, but his on-base streak has reached an impressive 17 straight contests. The catcher's 12-game hitting streak tied for the longest of the season with Ryan O'Hearn, who has since been promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. After going 83 games without hitting a home run (dating back to last July) Johnson hit two during the streak in one weekend series last week against Salem. The first-year Blue Rock piled up the extra-base hits in that span with two dingers, three doubles and his only triple of the year. Overall during the streak, Johnson raised his average by 52 points by going 17-for-45 with the six extra-base hits, eight RBI and three runs scored. He also walked four times during the streak, and his free pass on Sunday upped his team-leading total to 29 on the season--11 more than any other teammate.

Humberto Arteaga was rewarded for his strong play by being named to the Carolina League All-Star team. Dynamic defense and a torrid stretch at the plate helped propel the shortstop to the honor. He now has hits in 29 of his last 36 games, including four during Sunday's first-half finale. Over that stretch he is batting .354 (51-for-144) with seven extra-base hits, 15 RBI and 19 runs scored. He also now has 11 multi-hit games in his last 24 affairs, and had the walk-off knock on Tuesday against Winston-Salem. He is Wilmington's lone player on the squad, but will not be the only Blue Rock headed west for Advanced-A's mid-summer classic. Blue Crew manager Jamie Quirk will skipper the Carolina League team against the California League club in a game that will be played at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore on Tuesday, June 21.

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