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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Flex Muscle in 9-3 Rout of Keys

June 23, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Frederick, MD - Christian Binford threw 6.2 solid innings while Bubba Starling racked up two more hits including a homer as the Wilmington Blue Rocks broke out the big lumber in a 9-3 rout of the Frederick Keys on Monday night. The victory was Wilmington's third straight and improved the team to 3-2 in the second half and 36-37 overall

Starling, the reigning Carolina League Player of the Week, wasted no time in giving the Blue Crew an early 1-0 lead. The red-hot center fielder stepped to the plate with one out in the first inning and drilled a solo homer to center on 2-and-0 pitch, his fifth of the season. The early Blue Crew scoring did not stop there. Zane Evans drew a two-out walk and Cody Stubbs followed with an RBI triple to make it 2-0 Wilmington.

The Blue Rocks extended their lead to 4-0 with single tallies in both the second and the third. Daniel Rockett doubled with one out in the second and advanced to third on an infield single by Terrance Gore. Gore then stole second and catcher Zane Chavez threw the ball away, allowing Rockett to score. Jared Schlehuber worked a leadoff walk in the third inning, moved to second on a groundout by Stubbs and scored on an RBI single from Cam Gallagher.

Frederick scored its first run of the night in the fifth inning to pull within 4-1. Zane Chavez singled to lead off the inning and came around to score on an RBI double by Adrian Marin.

Wilmington pulled ahead to a 7-1 lead in the top of the seventh with three more runs. Starling hit a leadoff single and then stole second. He scored on an RBI double by Evans. Later in the frame, Gallagher drew a base on balls. Jack Lopez plated both Evans and Gallagher with an RBI double to right-center.

Binford ran out of gas in the seventh inning and gave up two Frederick runs to make the score 7-3. Trey Mancini doubled to lead off the inning. Chavez then grounded out, moving him to third. Marin lifted a sacrifice fly to right, plating Mancini just ahead of Daniel Rockett's strong throw from the outfield. After Jason Esposito took Binford deep, the righty was removed for Zeb Sneed, who pitched 2.1 scoreless innings of relief.

Gallagher punctuated Wilmington's big offensive night with a two-run homer in the ninth, his first of the season, to make it 9-3 Wilmington.

Binford (5-3, 2.35) picked up his fifth win of the season for the Blue Rocks by pitching 6.2 fantastic frames. He allowed three runs on eight hits, struck out six and did not walk a batter. Branden Kline (3-3, 3.59) suffered his third loss of the year for the Keys and yielded four runs on six hits over 4.1 innings of work.

Wilmington returns to action Tuesday night at Harry Grove Stadium in Frederick. The Blue Rocks will send righty Miguel Almonte (4-3, 4.48) to the mound while the Keys will counter with fellow right-hander Joe Van Meter (3-1, 4.54). First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Blue Rocks return home on Wednesday to open up a three-game homestand against the Lynchburg Hillcats. For tickets, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Bubba Starling continued his scorching-hot start to the second half with two more hits Monday night against the Keys. He finished the evening 2-for-4 with a pair of runs, a home run and a walk. It was the third time in his career that Starling had homered on back-to-back nights. He has accomplished the feat once in each of his three seasons as a pro. The talented center first homered in two consecutive games on August 2 and August 4, 2012, while he played for Rookie-Level Burlington. He did it again on April 28 and April 29 of last season for Low-A Lexington. Starling's dinger on Tuesday night came in the 10th inning and helped the Blue Crew to a 2-1 extra-inning win. In five games since the All-Star Break, Starling is batting .478 (11-for-23) with two home runs, a triple, two doubles, seven runs and five RBIs. All five of those contests have been multi-hit ones. Overall this season, Starling is batting .210 with 15 doubles, three triples, five homers, 41 runs and 35 RBIs in 70 games. His five dingers are the most by a Blue Rock this season.

Christian Binford turned in another quality start Monday in front of friends and family in Frederick. The Hagerstown, Maryland, resident pitched 6.2 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out six. Binford leads the Carolina League with 85 punchouts this season and he threw 68 of his 88 pitches Monday for strikes. Monday's outing was also Binford's seventh quality start of the season and his eighth without yielding a walk. The 6-foot-6 righty has issued only 11 free passes this season across 76.2 innings pitched and 13 starts. In his three-year professional career, Binford has allowed just 40 free passes across 251.2 innings and 43 starts.

With Monday night's victory in Frederick, the Blue Crew equaled its second-longest winning streak of the season. It was the fourth time in 2014 that Wilmington has won at least three in a row. The Blue Rocks will look to match their longest winning streak of the year on Tuesday, a four-gamer between May 18 and May 21. That stretch included a 5-4 win over Lynchburg in the series finale of a four-game series in Virginia and the first three contests of a four-game set against Carolina at Frawley Stadium. The Rocks won the first game of the Carolina series, 8-4, and then swept a doubleheader to wrap up the streak. Wilmington won the first game in the twin-bill, 9-4, and then walked off, 3-2, in extras on an RBI single by Kenny Diekroeger in the nightcap.

THEY SAID IT:

Manager Darryl Kennedy:

"I thought for most of the night [Christian Binford] located really well down in the zone. It was probably one of his better outings of being down in the zone with the first-pitch strikes. I think he was a little more relaxed out there and not as geared up with the local crowd tonight. He pitched a very good ballgame. He kind of lost his composure there after that play at the plate and I had to get him out of there. Overall, I thought he threw a very good ballgame."

"Bubba [Starling] is swinging the bat well. The good thing is Zane [Evans] is getting back in there and starting to swing the bat well also. I say it every night, we need those two guys to contribute in our offense and the last few nights they have."

"It's not just Zane. I see a different lineup completely going up there and not being so aggressive. They're aggressive when they need to but they're starting to zone in a little better and look for the pitches they want to hit. I think a lot of that is coming from settling into the league and [trying to do too much] in the first half. Now that we've started the second half, it seems like they've kind of matured their way into the league and they're starting to believe that they belong here."

"The oldest saying in baseball is 'hitting is contagious.' That's exactly what's going on right now. Everybody is starting to swing the bat and it's trickling down to each and every guy. I think the home runs are very indicative of our approach by being able to wait out and lay off those pitches outside of the zone and lay off those pitches off the plate and getting those pitches that we can drive out of the ballpark. That's what it's all about; laying off the tough pitches, laying off the pitchers' pitches and looking for the one you can handle. When you do that consistently, your power numbers are going to go up, your on-base percentage is going to go up, you're going to take the walk and the next guy is going to be able to drive him in. That's what's happened."

Christian Binford:

"I was able to slow everything down and just keep the ball down. I think the last game [in Frederick] I got too quick and tried to overpower guys. That's just not my game. I was able to keep the ball down and get real quick outs early in the game."

"Compared to last game [in Frederick], that's exactly what it was, just keeping the ball down. The last game, I had the ball up, they put good swings on it and they were able to drive it. Today, the ball was down and when they drove it, it went straight up most of the time. Then, later in the game, things started to flatten out a little bit. Close call there at home plate; it was the right call but it was close. Heck of a throw by Rockett. It's just little things like that in a game. The defense made amazing plays all night. It was just a good game."

"It's absolutely awesome [to see the team score so much]. This has been so much fun. I think a lot of guys, they've been waiting for it. They knew it was coming eventually. It was just a matter of time. Now, we're seeing what these guys can actually do. When you pair it with the defense for all of us pitchers, you have the confidence going into a start before you even throw the first pitch. It's fun watching these guys hit. It's a lot more fun in the clubhouse and in the dugout and guys are in better moods. I think now that we're on a little streak, you don't mess with a streak. Nobody wants to end it as a pitcher. I don't think the hitters are stopping any time soon."

"I think it was said by somebody at the beginning of the season that we're a second-half team. As much as we didn't want to believe it in the first half, for this year it may be true. We had a mediocre first half, right around .500. The pitching did well and we had a lot of great games in there for hitting as well, just not the whole season. Now, you're seeing great pitching from everybody, the bullpen included, and we're going to win those high-scoring games now. I think there are a lot more wins to come."

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