CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes

Published on July 13, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


ON A ROLL: The Wilmington Blue Rocks are playing their best baseball of the season. It resulted in another victory on Thursday night at Frawley Stadium as they downed the Potomac Nationals, 8-3. The Rocks are a win away from matching their longest string of successes on the season.

POUNDING POTOMAC: Thursday's result dropped the P-Nats to 0-5 at Frawley Stadium this season. During those meetings, the Blue Rocks have outscored their divisional foe, 28-7.

SECOND LIFE: In the first half, the Blue Rocks scored just 227 runs for a league-low 3.2 runs/game average. Entering tonight, Wilmington has scored 122 runs over its first 21 games of the second stanza for an average of 5.8 runs/game. The team that hit 31 homers over the 70-game first half, the second-lowest total in the loop, has bashed 28 through 21 games in the second. The Blue Crew hit a league-worst .231 in the first half, but owns a .272 (201-for-740) clip this half.

LONG DIVISION: This series with Potomac will end a stretch with 17 of 20 games against Northern Division opponents. The Rocks are 18-36 against teams from the South and 21-16 versus their brothers in the North (8-4 versus Potomac).

SIMPSON SIR, SECTOR 7G: The Blue Rocks have been bashing homers at an incredible rate. Wilmington entered this homestand with five home runs over its first 39 home games. It already has seven through five games on this homestand. Since failing to homer on June 30, the Blue Rocks have slammed 21 homers over a stretch of just 11 games.

OH, THERE YOU ARE: For the second night in a row, a Blue Rocks starting pitcher picked up a victory. Andy Ferguson notched one on Thursday night after Brooks Pounders did it on Wednesday. Pounders also had one on June 26 at Potomac. Those have been the only three wins by a Wilmington starting pitcher since Sugar Ray Marimon went to 4-0 with a victory against Carolina on June 5. Since Sugar's success, the team has played 33 games, going 11-22 in that time. It is no coincidence that three starters suffered injuries at the start of his long three-win run. Santiago Garrido, Greg Billo and Leondy Perez have all been on the shelf since suffering their respective injuries over a week-long span from June 2-8.

FUN FACT: Ferguson became the 13th different Blue Rocks pitcher to start a game this season last night. That is five more than last year's total and matches the season-long number of the 2010 team. Wilmington has not had more than 13 different starting pitchers since the 2007 squad trotted 14 men onto the starting bump.

FIELDS OF DREAMS: Matt Fields hit his eighth homer in 11 games, a towering blast to center field that ricocheted off the batter's eye in the fourth inning. To put it in perspective, he is second on the team in home runs only to Brett Eibner, who has 11 dingers. It took Eibner 52 games to hit eight home runs. Fields has hit .326 over the 11-game span with an OPS of 1.339. Eight of his 15 hits have left the yard.

SCORE!: The eight runs put up by the Blue Rocks marks their best output in a home game since they hung nine runs on the Salem Red Sox in a win on May 1.

UP & DOWN: The Kansas City Royals announced a roster move for the Blue Rocks today. Right-hander Andrew Stueve has been sent back to Rookie Burlington, while righty Robinson Yambati has been received from Low-A Kane County. The Rookie Surprise Royals Pitcher of the Year and an Arizona League Postseason All-Star in 2010, Yambati led the AZL in wins while ranking in the loop's top six for innings pitched, ERA and strikeouts that season. He appeared in 16 games (four starts) with Low-A Kane County before his promotion, going 2-1 with a 3.22 ERA and two saves in four tries. He held lefties to a .135 average. Stueve dominated in his first Wilmington outing of the year at Lynchburg on the Fourth of July when he retired all 14 men he faced. But the Modesto, California native struggled versus Myrtle Beach on Saturday (2.2 IP, 6H, 6R, 2BB, 1K).

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Carolina League Stories from July 13, 2012


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