CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes: August 3, 2014

Published on August 3, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


WILMINGTON BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN: Sean Manaea was magnificent across 7.1 shutout frames on Saturday, leading the Wilmington Blue Rocks to a 6-0 victory over the Frederick Keys at Frawley Stadium. The southpaw yielded just four hits and one walk while striking out seven. Manaea's dominance was front and center as the Blue Crew racked up its Carolina League-leading 13th shutout win of the season. Wilmington now sits at 20-20 in the second half and at 53-55 overall. The Rocks are tied with the Lynchburg Hillcats for second place in the CL North, just 1.5 games behind the first-place Potomac Nationals.

MARVELOUS MANAEA: Manaea turned in his most dominant performance of the year by hurling 7.1 shutout innings. It was the lengthiest outing of Manaea's career and the deepest a Blue Rocks pitcher has worked into a game this year. Wilmington starters have completed seven frames on 11 occasions, but not once had a Blue Crew starter lasted into the eighth inning. Manaea yielded just four hits and one walk while fanning seven. After a rocky first half, the southpaw has now worked at least five innings in 10 of his 20 starts. On the campaign, Manaea is 4-7 with a 3.61 ERA in 20 starts. He has punched out 109, walked 47 and given up 82 hits in 89.2 innings pitched. Manaea's ERA is lower than it has been at any point since April 14, when it sat at 3.24 following his second start of the year. His 109 strikeouts are tied with Frederick's Parker Bridwell for first in the Carolina League.

GOOSE EGGS GALORE: Saturday night's 6-0 win at Frawley Stadium was the Blue Rocks' league-leading 13th shutout victory of the 2014 season. Wilmington is now 13-3 in shutouts this year, which ranks tops in the Carolina League. The Salem Red Sox are second in the circuit with 10 blankings. Manaea, who threw 7.1 shutout frames on Saturday, has now been involved in two of the Blue Crew's 13 shutout wins. However, Saturday's was the first in which he was extensively involved. Manaea tossed one scoreless inning on July 2 during a 4-0 win against the Potomac Nationals. A two hour and 11 minute rain delay forced his early exit that night. Johnny Walter (4.1 innings) and Yender Caramo (1.2 innings) helped to complete the shutout before the game was called in the eighth inning due to rain. Wilmington has now blanked Frederick twice, Winston-Salem four times, Carolina three times, Potomac twice, Lynchburg once and Salem once.

POWER SURGE: Zane Evans stayed hot on Saturday, ripping his third home run of the season in the fourth inning. The right-handed hitting backstop finished the night 1-for-4. The homer was Evans' first since July 10, when he took Potomac's Dakota Bacus deep at Pfitzner Stadium. Evans entered Wednesday night's contest in Lynchburg mired in a 3-for-29 slump but has since broken through and recorded at least one hit in four consecutive contests. During that stretch, the Georgia Tech product is batting a combined .375 (6-for-16). Overall this year, Evans is hitting .230 with 27 runs, 18 doubles, three homers (all since the All-Star break) and 26 RBIs.

CAN-DO CAM GALLAGHER:Terrance Gore and Ramon Torres recorded two stolen bases apiece on Saturday. Only four Blue Rocks have accomplished this feat in 2014: Gore, Torres, Jack Lopez and Raul Mondesi. Gore has been able to do it six times, including back-to-back nights on Friday and Saturday. Lopez has swiped a pair of bags twice this year, while both Mondesi and Torres have done it once. Gore leads the Blue Rocks with 36 stolen bases in 40 tries this year. The speedy outfielder now ranks second in the Carolina League, just one behind Winston- Salem's Jacob May. Lopez is second on the team with 20 thefts in 28 tries. Mondesi's 13 steals are tied with Bubba Starling for third on the Blue Crew. Torres' two stolen bases on Saturday were his first since joining the club on July 2. Collectively, the Blue Rocks are an extremely efficient 111-for-137 on the basepaths this year. No other Carolina League team has been caught fewer than 32 times.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER DARRYL KENNEDY: "[Sean Manaea] was down in the zone tonight consistently. In fact, tonight I saw him pitch up in the zone when he wanted to get swings and misses with two strikes. He threw the ball really well...

Zane [Evans] has been swinging it good here lately. I'm getting him in the lineup more lately and it's paying off. He put a good swing on it to get us a nice 2-0 lead. In that [seventh] inning we took advantage of some walks and came through with some clutch hits, something we needed...The biggest thing for him is he hasn't been chasing as much, laying off the breaking stuff and getting his pitch to hit. It's paying off...[Jared Schlehuber] is okay. He's just got a nice little puffy eye but he said he's okay. I think it got the helmet first and then the ricochet [got his head]. Fortunately it wasn't a blunt hit. He should be fine...Schlehuber put a good swing on [his double] and [Cam] Gallagher was hustling all the way and we were able to score there. A game of inches, that ball hit right on the line and it got us on the board...[Daniel Stumpf] was very good. He came in and got [Sean] Manaea out of that with the run- ner at first base but ran into a little control problem for a couple hitters but was able to bounce right back and make some good pitches."

Today's Starters

WIL: RHP Glenn Sparkman (6-2, 1.44)

vs.

FRE: RHP Mark Blackmar (6-1, 3.55)

Right-hander Glenn Sparkman has been one of Wilmington's most reliable pitchers this season. He has posted a 6-2 record and a 1.44 ERA in 23 appearances (12 starts). In the nightcap of a May 21 doubleheader with Carolina, Sparkman tossed 3.2 scoreless innings and yielded just three hits, while striking out a career-high six. The outing was not only his first start of the season, but also the first of his professional career. Against the Potomac Nationals on June 8, Sparkman earned his first win as a starter. On July 4, Sparkman took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and threw seven shutout frames. He struck out nine and yielded just one hit and no walks while picking up the win. That outing earned Sparkman his first Carolina League Pitcher of the Week award. Last time out, on July 29 against the Lynchburg Hillcats at City Stadium, he hurled seven fantastic frames and yielded just two runs on five hits while striking out seven. On the season, righties are batting .230 against him, while lefties are hitting a mere .185. The right-hander has fanned 81 and walked only 17 in 87.1 innings pitched. Sparkman hails from Ganado, Texas, and played collegiately at Wharton County Junior College. He was a 20th Round draft pick in 2013. Prior to the draft, Sparkman drove with his mother from their home in Ganado, Texas, to Kansas City, where he threw a bullpen session that convinced the Royals to draft him.

The Frederick Keys selected righty Mark Blackmar in the 16th Round of the 2011 Draft out of Temple College in Texas. After signing for a reported $100,000 bonus, Blackmar reported to the Gulf Coast League Orioles, where he went 3-0 in 2011 and did not allow a run in 10 relief appearances. Following a successful start to his pro career in 2011, Blackmar spent the 2012 season with the Short-Season A Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York-Penn League. He went 4-3 with a 4.57 ERA there. The right-hander struggled last season, with the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds, Blackmar went 4-9 there with a 5.53 ERA in 24 games (11 starts). This year, with the Keys, he is 6-1 with a 3.55 ERA in 21 appearances (13 starts). Lefties are batting .269 off of Blackmar, while righties are hitting .221. He has been significantly better as a starter. Out of the 'pen, Blackmar was 1-1 with a 4.88 ERA in eight appearances. Since moving to the rotation in mid-May, he is 5-0 with a 3.11 ERA in 13 starts. The Blue Rocks have faced Blackmar once, on June 1 at Frawley Stadium. He threw six solid innings and yielded just one run on six hits. Blackmar's father, Phil, is also a professional athlete. He played on the PGA Tour between 1985 and 2000 and is currently on the Champions Tour.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from August 3, 2014


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.

OurSports Central