CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes: May 4, 2014

Published on May 4, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


TWICE AS NICE: A dominant performance by Christian Binford combined with an opportunistic effort by the Wilmington offense carried the Blue Rocks to an 8-1 win over the Carolina Mudcats on Saturday at Five County Stadium. It was the Blue Crew's second straight victory, something the Rocks had not accomplished since April 14-16, and it ties Wilmington's longest winning streak of the season.

BINFORD WAS BRILLIANT: Binford (2-1) at times looked unhittable. The right- hander set the tone early by striking out the side in the opening inning and took a perfect game into the fifth. He allowed a leadoff double that frame to Jeremy Lucas, but worked his way out of a first-and-third jam by inducing an inning-ending double play off the bat of Alex Monsalve. Binford would yield another single in the sixth, but that was it. The 10th-ranked prospect in the Royals system, according to Baseball America, retired the side in order five times and allowed just three hits while fanning eight and walking none in seven innings. He tied his own team-best mark for longest outing of the season.

THAT DOG WILL HUNT: Hunter Dozier has now reached base safely in 12 straight games. He has hits in 11 of those contests as the infielder went 1-for-3 with two walks on Saturday. Dozier is hitting .400 (16-for-40) during this torrid stretch with one homer, and seven RBIs. As a result, Kansas City's 2013 first-round pick has raised his batting average by 107 points from .157 to .264. Dozier appears to favor the road where he is batting .333 on the season, as opposed to the .186 average he sports at home this year.

SOLVING THE SOUTHPAW RIDDLE: The Blue Rocks won for just the second time this season when facing a southpaw starting pitcher. Entering Saturday, the Rocks sported a sub- .200 batting average against left-handed pitching and had only one victory in seven tries against lefty starters. Wilmington handed Carolina hurler Shawn Morimando, the 22nd-ranked prospect in the Cleveland system, according to Baseball America, his first loss of the season.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST: Wilmington's eight runs were its most since scoring 10 in Winston-Salem on the season's second day. Saturday's offensive performance marked the second-highest run total of the campaign for the Blue Crew attack. The Rocks also got their second homer of the series, which is as many long balls as they hit in their first 11 games on the road this year. Wilmington's six dingers overall is still the lowest total in the eight-team Carolina League. Bubba Starling became the first Rock with multiple home runs in 2014 thanks to his first-inning bomb.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER DARRYL KENNEDY: "I think you'd have to say Christian Binford put together the best start we've gotten this season. He was in command from the first inning on. It was nice to give him a good cushion early and allow him to go out there and just pitch. He's got four pitches, the little two-seam fastball with sink that he throws and commands well. Then you add his breaking ball which he can throw for a strike. He's got a slider that runs away pretty hard on right- handed hitters and then he's got a changeup. Plus he throws all of them for strikes. Anytime you can get four pitches like that, that you can command, it doesn't matter how hard you throw. When you have command like that you put a lot of thoughts into a hitter's head and that's what Binford does...This whole series I thought our offense has done a very good job of attacking early in the game. We've scored in the first inning every game this series which is very good to see. And I'll tell you, anytime you can score first, particularly on the road, it makes a big difference...

We've got to start stringing some winning streaks together. This is the first time we've won back-to-back games in almost three weeks and we need to do more of that obviously. It's time to start putting the pedal down a little bit and getting after it."

THEY SAID IT, STARTING PITCHER CHRISTIAN BINFORD "When you get into a groove you start to feel the ball come out of your hand so clean, and then once guys start to make plays behind you, you just feel like you can throw the ball wherever you want to and if they hit it, they hit it, because guys will go get it for you...It's so critical to get strike one. It sets up the pitches for later in the at bat. When you can get the fastball over for strike one everything else kind of falls into place. When you go in and out and are always working ahead in the count it kind of screws with the hitters heads...

You know we're going to find it. We're far from a terrible team. I mean we're hovering around .500 right now, so it's not the end of the world. When our guys start hitting the ball like tonight, guys one-through-nine in our lineup are capable of doing damage and getting on base. Tonight they gave me a lead early and that's such a great thing when you can work with a lead...The key for me is slowing everything down. When I get into bad games, my windup starts going all quick and I just don't know where the ball's going. The last two games I had a few walks and that's just not what I like to do and I know I'm capable of not doing it. So whenever I throw a ton of strikes and work into the sixth or seventh innings I know my tempo is right and I'm doing my job."

Today's Starters

WIL: LHP Daniel Stumpf (0-4, 5.63)

vs.

CAR: RHP D.J. Brown (2-0, 1.89)

Daniel Stumpf has been a winner nearly everywhere he has pitched. While in college, San Jacinto CC finished as the runner up in the 2011 JUCO World Series. Stumpf played a big role in leading San Jacinto CC to that fantastic season, and was named the team's most outstanding pitcher. Last year, at Low-A Lexington, the southpaw finished the season tied for fourth in the South Atlantic League in wins with 10. Stumpf really had a remarkable 2013 campaign without even considering that lofty win total. He tossed a seven-inning no-hitter on July 2 against Greenville and his 1.11 WHIP was tied for third in the South Atlantic League. While Stumpf has never struck out more than nine in a game in his professional career, he has still racked up some nice strikeout totals thanks to his consistency. Over his first two professional seasons, Stumpf fanned 151 in 166.2. The southpaw has struggled to match those numbers in 2014, though, posting an 0-4 record and a 5.63 ERA. Lefties are hitting .250 (5-for-20) off of him while righties are batting .415 (22- for-53). Stumpf's most recent start came against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Frawley Stadium on April 27. He yielded three runs on nine hits in that outing while setting a new career-high in strikeouts with nine. Stumpf's best start of the campaign was his first home start. On April 13, he tossed 5.2 innings and let up just one run on six hits against the Winston-Salem Dash.

Righty D.J. Brown was the Cleveland Indians' 39th round draft pick in the 2012 MLB Draft. The 6-foot-6 Brown played collegiately at James Madison University, but missed the entire 2012 collegiate season with a torn labrum in his shoulder. Brown, who was given James Madison's Relief Pitcher Award as a sophomore in 2011 elected to sign with the Indians, despite the injury, and begin his pro career. According to scouts, the righty throws his fastball up to 92 miles-per-hour. Brown's professional career got off to a solid start in 2013 with Low-A Lake County. He went 3-4 last season with a 2.71 ERA in 27 games (two starts). Brown struck out 71 and walked only 20 in 66.1 innings pitched. The tall right-hander is off to a solid start to the 2014 campaign, as well. He is currently 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in five games pitched, three of which have been starts. Brown has 13 strikeouts and two walks in 19 innings thrown. His last three outings have been starts, all of which have gone well for him. Brown's most recent start came against the Blue Rocks on April 24 at Frawley Stadium. He threw five shutout frames while yielding just four hits and striking out four.

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