CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Bats Come Alive in Series Opening Win Against Mudcats

Published on April 16, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks looked to be in a world of trouble on Monday night. Down 2-0 in the third inning, the Mudcats were threatening again with two men on and nobody out.

The Blue Rocks (4-6) then proceeded to turn a triple play and find their bats as they took down the Carolina Mudcats (5-5) by a final score of 9-2 on Monday night at Frawley Stadium.

With Tyler Holt on third and Tony Wolters on first base, Leondy Perez struck out Giovanny Urshella swinging. At the same time, Wolters broke from first and was easily thrown out by Kevin David to second baseman Luis Piterson. Holt broke from third and got hung up. Piterson threw home to David who chased Holt back and threw to third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert who made the running tag to end the threat.

The Blue Rocks then proceeded to score nine unanswered to take the opener of the three game set.

Alex McClure delivered a two-out RBI basehit against starter Danny Salazar in the third inning to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Blue Crew went ahead in the fourth thanks to another two-out hit, as David delivered a two-run double to put Wilmington on top by a 3-2 mark.

The Blue Rocks put the game to bed in the sixth inning as they buried Carolina reliever Brett Brach. With one out and runners in scoring position, Mudcats manager Edwin Rodriguez elected to intentionally walk Jake Kuebler to get to David, who already had a pair of hits. David ripped a double down the left line which scored a pair of runs to make it 5-2.

After Luis Piterson was hit by a pitch, Angel Franco came through with a two-run single with the sacks full, extending their lead to five. Piterson and Franco both moved up a bag after an error by second baseman Ronny Rodriguez. McClure followed as well with a two-run single up the middle to cap the Rocks' slugfest.

Perez picked up his first victory of the season, as he went five innings of two run (both unearned) ball. He walked one and struck out a pair. Sugar Ray Marimon came on in relief of Perez and earned his first career save. He threw four innings of shutout ball, striking out five batters and allowing only two hits. It came in his 64th career appearance

After their victory on Monday, the Blue Rocks will try and guarantee their first series win as they battle the Carolina Mudcats in the middle game of a three-game set with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday night. Wilmington right-hander Jason Adam (0-0, 0.90) squares off against lefty Mike Rayl (0-2, 4.91). 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 turned a triple play in the top half of the third inning. It was the first time it happened since August 27, 1997 at Frederick. That play involved Tony Logueira, Emiliano Escandon, and Gary Coffee. The last time it went down at Frawley Stadium was on May 3, 1995 against Kinston. Here is the video of the triple play, courtesy of Sean Greene from WDEL.

Brett Brach, who was on the mound for the Blue Rocks' six-run sixth inning, is the brother of current San Diego Padre reliever Brad Brach. Brad was the losing pitcher in yesterday's ballgame against the Los Angeles Dodgers which also included a triple play, with the Major League one surrounded with controversy.

The Blue Rocks finally came through in the clutch on Monday night. After going just 4-for-27 with RISP the last two games, the Blue Crew went 5-for-11 with men in scoring position against Carolina pitching.

The Blue Rocks scored a season high nine runs on Monday night. Those nine runs were one short of the team's entire total from the season opening road trip. The team also set a new season high for hits with nine base knocks.

Leondy Perez had his second straight efficient outing against the Carolina Mudcats. He has not allowed an earned run in eight innings against the Indians' Advanced-A affiliate.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from April 16, 2012


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