CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Big Innings Blow out Wilmington

Published on June 7, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - A couple of big innings for the Carolina Mudcats (28-31) on Thursday night prevented the Wilmington Blue Rocks (28-31) from taking the four-game series as the Mudcats were 12-1 victors over the Rocks at Frawley Stadium.

In the second inning, things were cruising right along for Blue Rocks starter Yordano Ventura. With two outs in the frame though, the Mudcats had them right where they wanted them. Ronny Rodriguez rolled a ball deep to the shortstop area where Alex McClure fielded but had no play at first base. Justin Toole worked a walk to put a pair of men on. Tyler Cannon then sent a ball through the left side to score Rodriguez to seize the lead at 1-0. Delvi Cid roped a single to right that sent home another runner for a 2-0 lead. Tyler Holt then slapped a single to right field and put the advantage at 3-0. Perhaps frustrated, Ventura had a decently hit ball bounce off his lower body from Tony Wolters. Ventura fielded the ball and hurried his throw to first which was wide of first baseman Juan Graterol, who was promptly run over by Wolters. It allowed another run to cross on the play before Graterol was tended to by Blue Rocks athletic trainer James Stone. He had to be helped off the field by Stone and clubhouse attendant Zach Taylor. Luis Piterson entered the game in left field for Graterol as Brian Fletcher slid over to first base. After a four pitch walk to Giovanny Urshela, manager Vance Wilson gave the hook to Ventura after throwing 35 pitches in the frame. Edwin Carl came in to relieve.

Up 5-1 in the fifth, Anthony Gallas roped a triple to center. Rodriguez sent a base hit to right for a 6-1 lead. Toole added another triple for the Mudcats on a ball hammered to right for a 7-1 Carolina mark. A sacrifice fly from Cannon made it 8-1.

Leading by the same mark in the eighth, two men were aboard for Carolina and two outs. Cannon smoked a home run off new Blue Rocks reliever Nick Graffeo to the Mudcats bullpen in left field to put the lead at 11-1.

Michael Goodnight (2-6) picked up his second victory of the year for the Mudcats. He went six innings and yielded just one run on a pair of hits and a walk. He fanned five Wilmington batters.

The Blue Rocks hit the road for a short four-game trip as they take on the Winston-Salem Dash beginning with a pair of games on Friday night starting at 5 p.m. Game One will feature a game that was originally suspended back on April 22. Rocks righty Greg Billo (5-3, 4.28) will pick up the game in the bottom of the first inning with his team up 3-1 but will face a bases loaded jam with two outs when the contest resumes. Winston-Salem righty Steve McCray (1-0, 3.52) will throw to start the top of the second inning. In Game Two, Wilmington righty Leondy Perez (3-2, 3.44) hooks up with Dash righty Matt Heidenreich (4-2, 4.55). Broadcast coverage begins at 4:30 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 Rocks stand 2.5 games of first-place Lynchburg in the Northern Division now that the Hillcats have won back-to-back ballgames. However, Wilmington has no meetings with the Hillcats until the second half. In fact, Wilmington's final 11 games of the half will pit it against Southern Division squads. Entering Thursday, the North has a composite record of 106-123 (.463) while the South stands at 124-107 (.537). Three of the four teams in the North have a losing record compared with winning marks for three of the four in the South.

Wilmington has been held to three runs or less in 13 of its last 15 games and in 35 of its 59 on the year. Over the greater span, the team is 10-25 when held to three or less and 18-6 when plating four plus.

The eleven-run defeat was the worst on the season for the Blue Rocks. They had lost by eight runs two previous times, the most recent coming against these same Mudcats back on May 29 in Zebulon, NC. The 12 runs allowed also marks a season-worst for the Blue Rocks. They had allowed 11 runs twice before, the most recent also coming in that game on May 29 against Carolina.

Yordano Ventura made his shortest start of the season on Thursday by only going 1.2 innings. It was his shortest outing since July 14, 2010 when he only last 0.2 innings when he faced the Giants of the Arizona League.

Blue Rock alum Clint Robinson was called up from Triple-A Omaha today to the Kansas City Royals. When he makes his Major League debut, he'll the 118 th Blue Rock to play in the big leagues. Robinson played for the Blue Rocks in 2009. In 124 games, he hit .298 with 13 homers and 57 RBIs.

Luis Piterson was forced into action after Juan Graterol was hurt in the second inning. He was forced to patrol left field with a lack of men available to play first base. He had never played the outfield before in 219 professional games. Brian Fletcher started the game in left field and moved to first.

For the 23rd time this season, Jansen Visconti and Rich Gonzalez combined to umpire a game involving the Rocks. They have arbitrated 39% of Wilmington's games on the year.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from June 7, 2012


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