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Wilmington Blue Rocks

Homers Abound as Rocks Tumble in Final Game of 2016

September 5, 2016 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Frederick, MD--While the Wilmington Blue Rocks (54-84/27-42) put together a winning road trip to end their 2016 campaign, they could not complete their sweep of the Frederick Keys (68-72/32-38) as they fell in the season finale 6-3. Luis Villegas rocked his fourth and fifth bombs of the year with solo dingers in both the second and eighth innings while the Blue Crew finished their season ending road trip with a 4-2 mark.

Villegas opened the scoring when he lined a 1-0 pitch just over the wall in left for a 1-0 Rocks lead. However, Rocks starter Matt Tenuta allowed a three-run homer in the second inning to Josh Hart that allowed the Keys to jump ahead 3-1. They tallied three more in the third as DJ Stewart and Aderlin Rodriguez doubled to make it 4-1 and Yermin Mercedes followed with a two-run blast to left as they Keys extended their lead to 6-1.

The Blue Crew tried to mount a rally in the late innings as the bottom three member of the lineup, Austin Bailey, John Brontsema, and Brien Bien all singled to bring a run home with Bien's base knock cutting it to 6-2. Villegas hammered homer No. 2 on the day when he catapulted a ball over everything in left in the eighth inning to cut the deficit in half at 6-3, but that was as close as they would get.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The 2016 campaign for the Rocks did not go the way they hoped when they started the season. They set a new low for fewest wins in a season with 54, eclipsing the mark of 60 back in 2005. They also recorded their most losses in a year with 84, four more than the 80 lost by the 2005 club. The squad also collected the fewest first half wins with 27, one fewer than the 28 of last season. The 2016 Blue Crew set a new mark for fewest home wins by claiming victory in just 28 contests, four fewer than in 2014. They also tied for most road losses, dropping for 44 times away from Frawley Stadium for the second year in a row. The pitching staff also set a new high in team ERA, posting a 4.55 mark, which surpassed the 4.36 mark back in both 1997 and 2005. With a final wild pitch in the seventh inning, it marked the 162 of the year, 30 more than the prior record of 132 from 2013.

It was not all doom and gloom in the final game of the 2016 season though. Luis Villegas rocketed a pair of long balls for his fourth and fifth homers of the year. It was the fourth time this season a member of the Blue Crew blasted a pair of home runs in the same game, but the first time the same player did it twice. Villegas peppered two over the wall back on August 3 against Salem when he hit a two-run homer and a three-run blast in his career high game. The other Rocks to accomplish the feat were Ryan O'Hearn all the way back on April 15 at Potomac when he hit an inside the parker in the 1st and a 6th dinger. Mike Hill collected two homers in the same game also against Potomac, but that was at Frawley Stadium on August 17. Both of his bombs were two runs shots, the first occurring in the 4th and the second in the 6th frame.

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