Sports stats



CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Crew Splits Impromptu Twinbill

July 4, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Woodbridge, VA - An up-and-down Fourth of July saw the Wilmington Blue Rocks (41-40, 5-7) blow a late lead and rally for a win in splitting a pair of games with the Potomac Nationals (35-46, 6-6) at Pftizner Stadium. In the resumption of Sunday's suspended affair, the Blue Crew lost a 4-2 lead to a five-run eighth in a 7-4 setback. The seven-inning nightcap featured outstanding pitching from Noel Arguelles (3-3) and Bryan Paukovits in turning a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 triumph. The win snapped a seven-game losing skid against Potomac.

Arguelles allowed just one run over five innings in securing his first win since May 11 and his first on the road all year. While he walked a season-high two, he struck out three and faced one over the minimum after Jose Lozada's two-out double knocked in Potomac's only run in the second inning.

He departed with the lead as a result of the Rocks' three-run fifth. Gerard Hall threaded a double down the left-field line to drive in two of the runs, taking third and the throw to the plate. Whit Merrifield followed with an RBI single to right for a 3-1 lead. John Whittleman extended the advantage with a no-doubt-about-it towering homer to right in the sixth, his team-leading 10th of the year. All of the damage came against starter Adam Olbrychowski (2-4) who gave up four runs over six innings and owns a 6.48 ERA in four outings against the Rocks. Paukovits concluded with two perfect innings for his third save, striking out two in the process.

The opener saw the teams pick up the suspended game in the bottom of the fifth with nobody on, one out and the Rocks leading, 4-2. Dusty Odenbach (2-1) retired two men in succession to end the inning and worked around two walks in a scoreless sixth. The P-Nats mustered nothing more than a leadoff single against him the next inning, but in the eighth Justin Bloxom followed Destin Hood's leadoff base hit with a homer to right-center field to tie the game, 4-4.

That was just the start. After walking Steven Souza, Odenbach got the hook as Ryan Dennick entered. Sandy Leon laid down a sacrifice bunt and J.P. Ramirez followed with an RBI single. Dennick attacked thereafter, jumping ahead of J.R. Higley 0-2 before the center fielder homered to left for the 7-4 score that went final.

Reliever Evan Bronson (2-3) got the win with three scoreless innings of work. Hector Nelo walked a man in a scoreless ninth to notch his third save.

The four-game set concludes at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday night. Tyler Sample (5-5, 4.33) makes his first true solo start for Wilmington. His season-long piggyback with Justin Marks has permanently ceased as Sample assumes the rotation spot previously held by Jake Odorizzi. The right-hander will oppose the Nationals' sixth-ranked prospect according to Baseball America in lefty Sammy Solis. Solis will be added to Potomac's roster from Low-A Hagerstown the day of the game. He went 2-1 with a 4.02 ERA in seven starts for the Suns. Broadcast coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. as studio host Adam Dobrowolski 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:

Tim Melville allowed just one earned run over his 4.1 innings before rain delayed and eventually suspended play on Sunday. He struck out four, walked none, and picked off Steven Souza at first base in the second. Melville will owns a 1.98 ERA over his last five starts and the team had not lost any of those outings until Sunday's game resulted in a fall-from-ahead loss.

Over his last 16 games, John Whittleman has gone 17-for-49 (.347) with 10 extra-base hits. That includes homers in each of his last two games.

By blowing a 4-2 lead after seven in the opener, the Blue Rocks tied for the most losses in the league when leading entering the eighth (5).

Whit Merrifield entered the opener in a 1-for-28 slide. Over the two games, he went 4-for-7 with his first triple of the year, an RBI and a walk. He stole two bases in the nightcap to lift his team-leading total to 16. The opener marked his first multi-hit game since June 23.

Nick Van Stratten has hit in each of his first five games with this year's Blue Rocks. He has gone 7-for-18 (.389) with two stolen bases.

Ryan Stovall ended an 0-for-8 start to his current tour of duty as a Blue Rock with his fourth-inning double in the opener.

Glenn Gibson has voluntarily retired. He gave up seven runs on six hits and two dingers in two-thirds of an inning on Saturday as his ERA rose from 7.45 to 13.06. Gibson spent most of his first five seasons as a pro in the Nationals' farm system, including last season with many of this year's P-Nats at Low-A Hagerstown. His departure puts the Wilmington active roster at one below the Carolina league maximum of 25, including 11 pitchers. The Blue Rocks have carried 13 active pitchers most of the season.

Potomac's Jeff Kobernus has four swipes in as many attempts on the series and a league-best 33 on the year. The CL All-Star is 6-for-6 in theft tries against the Rocks on the year.

Potomac entered the series dead last in the CL with 39 homers. That included just four against the Rocks in 10 clashes. The P-Nats belted six in the first two games of this set before failing to leave the yard in Monday's scheduled affair. With 45 homers, Potomac now ranks seventh in the loop, pacing Kinston (42) and trailing Wilmington by just one.

The Blue Rocks' win is their first at Pfitzner Stadium since May 13.

The Washington Nationals promoted baseball's top prospect, Bryce Harper, to Double-A Harrisburg on Monday. He skipped Potomac, advancing from Low-A Hagerstown. He singled in his first at-bat and finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk. Harper calls two former Blue Rocks teammates these days, teaming up with infielders Josh Johnson and Chris McConnell.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...

Carolina League Stories from July 4, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Wilmington Blue Rocks Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central