CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Another Walkoff on the Riverfront for Rocks

Published on May 20, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - For the second time in three days, the Wilmington Blue Rocks (19-23) found some walkoff magic in the ninth inning thanks to Brett Eibner's double as they took down the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (21-20) by a 2-1 mark at Frawley Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Rocks took the three-game set, their first rubber game win in four tries for the year.

With the scored tied at one after eight innings, Francisco Mendoza (1-1) came on in the ninth to relieve Myrtle Beach starter Kyle Hendricks. Hendricks chucked eight innings of one-run ball, allowing just four hits and chalking up 11 strikeouts.

After retiring Whit Merrifield to start the frame, Angel Franco flared a basehit to left field. Brian Fletcher then shot a single to right which moved Franco up to second base. Eibner then took a fastball and pounded it out to straight center field. It spun Pelicans center fielder Jake Skole around twice as the ball kicked up against the wall. Franco jogged home with the winning run, setting off another postgame party at the Stadium.

After having their offense shut down in a no-hitter on Saturday, the Blue Rocks pitching staff was near flawless on Sunday. Wilmington starter Sugar Ray Marimon totaled six innings of shutout baseball, ringing up nine strikeouts and allowing just one hit. Santiago Garrido (1-1) tossed the last three innings and picked up his first Carolina League victory. He allowed a run on three hits while striking out four Pelicans.

The Blue Rocks got their first score in the third inning. With one out, Alex McClure punched a single into left field off Hendricks. After a strikeout of Merrifield, McClure took off and swiped second base. Franco then sharply rolled a ball through the right side to score McClure before Franco was gunned down at second base to end the frame after the Rocks went up 1-0.

The Pelicans would knot the game up in the seventh inning. Garrido replaced Marimon and abruptly gave up the lead. With one out, Christian Villanueva got aboard with a single. Vinny DeFazio looped a single to center that moved Villanueva to third. DeFazio didn't wait long to swipe second base after his hit. With two men in scoring position, Jake Skole rolled a ball deep to McClure at short allowing Villanueva to score the tying run on a fielder's choice. With DeFazio at third, Yefry Castillo also grounded out to McClure that halted any further damage.

After taking the series and their first rubber game match on Sunday, the Blue Rocks open up a three-game set with their divisional rivals, the Potomac Nationals, on Monday night at 6:35 p.m. Wilmington right-hander Greg Billo (3-3, 5.58) squares off against Nationals righty Matt Swyneberg (3-1, 3.95). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:05 p.m. as studio host Rob Cunningham brings fans the Rocks Report Pre-game Show, presented by Wawa, on 89.7 WGLS-FM and online at wgls.rowan.edu.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The Blue Rocks played their league-high 19th one-run game of the season. They are 8-11 in such affairs. That means 45% of the team's games and 42% of its wins have come by a single score.

While they did get the victory, the Blue Rocks struck out an exorbitant amount of times against Myrtle Beach starter Kyle Hendricks, as he rung up 11 Blue Rocks batters. That set a season high for individual strikeouts against the Blue Crew. The previous high was 10 and was accomplished by Kyle Winters of Potomac at Pfitzner Stadium on May 5. The Blue Rocks are scheduled to face Winters on Wednesday at 11:05 a.m. at Frawley.

The Blue Rocks got their third walk-off win of the season on Sunday afternoon, and their second in three days. Kevin David hit a two-run walkoff homer on Friday night and the Rocks first walk-off win this season came in the home opener on April 13 against the Frederick Keys.

The Blue Rocks finally picked up their first rubber game match of the year on Sunday with a 2-1 walkoff win. They had failed in their first three tries to pick up a series after splitting the first two games of a three-game set.

The four hits allowed by Blue Rocks pitching on Sunday tied a season best for fewest knocks by an opponent. It happened a few days ago on May 17 at Lynchburg. On Sunday, Sugar Ray Marimon allowed one basehit while Santiago Garrido yielded a trio of Pelican knocks.

The Blue Rocks have responded well in games after they have been blanked by their opponent. A walkoff win on Sunday was their response to being no-hit on Saturday. They are now 4-2 on the season after being shut out.

Wilmington is still perfect in games in which Marimon gets the starting nod, as they have a 5-0 team mark. The Rocks are 6-3 in games where Marimon makes any type of appearance.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 20, 2012


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