CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes

Published on July 13, 2007 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Potomac Nationals (29-39, 11-9) Carolina League Affiliate of the Washington Nationals vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks (30-38, 14-6) Carolina League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals

Game No. 89 -- Home Game No. 40 -- Frawley Stadium -- Friday, July 13, 2007 -- 7:05 p.m.

LOPSIDED LOSS: The fine pitching and clutch hitting that carried the Wilmington Blue Rocks to victory the previous night was absent on Thursday, as the Blue Crew got shelled, 8-2, by the Potomac Nationals at Frawley Stadium. Starter Tyler Chambliss was tagged four five runs on five hits in just four innings to drop his first Wilmington decision, while the Rocks offense collected just seven hits and stranded 10 runners on base, including six in scoring position.

FIRST TIME IN AWHILE: The eight runs and 12 base hits amassed by the Nationals were the most by the P-Nats in eight meetings with Wilmington and the most surrendered by the Blue Rocks since a 14-5 setback to Lynchburg on June 27 at Frawley, in which the Hillcats collected 12 hits.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: By virtue of the loss, Wilmington missed a chance to climb 10 games above .500 on half, yet it still retained the best second-half record in the entire Carolina League. The Blue Rocks have been in first place every day of the second half.

THE BIG INNING: The P-Nats broke a 1-1 tie with a four-run rally in the fourth. Chambliss (2-1), who retired the first seven batters he faced, ran into immediate peril in the top of the fourth when Mike Daniel doubled and Chris Marrero worked out a walk to begin the frame. Matt Rogelstad moved both runners up a base via a sac bunt, and the pair was promptly chased home on Brett McMillan's double to right field for a 3-1 Potomac lead. After a walk to Devin Ivany and a strikeout by Brandon Powell, Greg Thissen stroked a Chambliss offering to center field to score McMillan from second. Wilmington center fielder Jose Duarte's attempt to cut down McMillan at the plate was tardy, but catcher Kiel Thibault alertly threw to second to get Thissen in a rundown. However, Thissen stalled long enough to allow Ivany - who was holding at third - to scamper home with the fourth run of the inning, pushing the Nationals advantage to 5-1. All nine Nationals in the batting order hit in the frame.

PITCHING LINES (OF FIRE): Chambliss departed after just four innings, marking the first time in his three starts as a Blue Rock that the right-hander did not go five frames. Patrick Green followed Chambliss with four innings of fivehit, two run ball, while David Humen allowed a run on two hits in the ninth.

MARTIS NOT SHAKEN, NOR STIRRED: Potomac starter Shairon Martis was effective in his 5.1 innings of work, limiting the Blue Rocks to a pair of runs on five hits with four strikeouts. While far from spectacular, Martis (8-5) allowed nary a Wilmington rally in the game, as the offensive uprisings were limited to solo tallies in the second and sixth. The Rocks broke into the run column initially, thanks to a Thibault sac fly in the second inning. Brad McCann's RBI groundout in the sixth accounted for Wilmington's second and, as it turned out, final run.

T-BO KNOWS: Kiel Thibault had two of Wilmington's seven hits last night. The former Gonzaga Bulldog has now hit safely in his last five games for a .368 average (7-for-19) during the span with three extra-base hits, two RBIs and three runs scored.

INJURY UPDATE: First baseman/DH Miguel Vega, who left Wednesday night's game after appearing to hurt his shoulder on a pickoff play, was not in the lineup on Thursday. However, Vega did take batting practice prior to the game and was simply given the night off, according to Blue Rocks manager John Mizerock.

Tonight's Probables

WIL: RHP Dan Cortes (1-6, 4.03) vs. POT: LHP Justin Jones (4-4, 4.02)

GETTING LUCKY: Wilmington's youngest player, 20-year-old righty Dan Cortes, takes the ball on Friday the 13th with just one win over 13 starts. That victory came two outings ago with 6.2 innings of three-run (two-earned) baseball versus Salem on July 2. The "lucky" date of 07-07-07 failed to help Cortes last time out as he suffered a loss despite allowing just one run in a 1-0 setback at Myrtle Beach on Saturday. Armed with a heavy mid-90s fastball and an excellent power curve, Cortes' stuff prompted Baseball America to rank him as the No. 30 overall prospect for the Royals.

The Nationals look to southpaw Justin Jones. With wins in each of his last two starts, Jones comes off his best start as a P-Nat, tossing seven shutout innings versus Lynchburg on Saturday. Potomac's Pitcher of the Month in June faced two more than the minimum through the first six innings. He started the year with a brief stay in Low-A, going 2-0 with 12.2 shutout innings for Hagerstown and took a no-decision in a spot start with Double-A Harrisburg on May 19. A former top prospect of the Cubs, the Nationals acquired him from the Twins in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.

Meet The Nationals

A LESSON ON NATIONALISM: Potomac enters with wins in six of its last seven and eight of its last 10, including a three-game sweep of Lynchburg over the weekend. Five of the Nationals' nine losses on the season's second stanza have come by two runs or less. An offensive squad, the P-Nats are one of three CL teams to average more than five runs a game, but rank in the bottom half of the circuit in team ERA at 4.43, including the third-highest amount of home runs allowed (69 in 88 games) and the second-most walks issued (4.3/g).

THE NEW GUY: In 25 games as a National, Mike Daniel has hit .352 with 12 extra-base hits and 16 RBIs. He enters tonight on a 10- game hitting streak, with seven multi-hit efforts, eight RBIs and a .512 (21-for-41) batting average during his hot stretch. Daniel hit .290 in 54 games with Low-A Hagerstown prior to his promotion.

ALL-TIME SERIES: The Blue Rocks lead the all-time series against the Nationals 176-110 (.615) including a 92-53 (.634) record at Frawley Stadium. These teams split last year's series, 10-10. Oddly, the road team had better luck with Wilmington going 4-6 versus Potomac at Frawley. Wilmington has won six of the eight meetings this season, with one of its two losses in extra innings.

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Carolina League Stories from July 13, 2007


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