CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes

Published on July 18, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


ABOUT LAST NIGHT: While it was not a reprise of Monday night's shutout, Tuesday's effort was arguably more dominant by Myrtle Beach pitching. Starter Luke Jackson (2-1) put his performance among the top five in franchise history with a career-best 12 strikeouts over just five innings of work. His Pelicans rode that wave of swings and misses to a 7-2 defeat of the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

ROAD WOES: The Blue Crew's fifth loss in six road games dropped it to 18-31 (.367) away from Frawley Stadium. Only Potomac owns a worse road winning percentage in the CL at 12-34 (.261).

SO HOT RIGHT NOW: On Saturday, Matt Fields hit his ninth homer in 13 games, a smoke shot over the left-field wall that left the park completely. To put it in perspective, he is second on the team in home runs only to Brett Eibner, who has 11. It took Eibner 63 games to hit nine home runs. Last night, he collected his fifth career triple and his first since 2009. The three-base hit extended his hitting streak to six games with multiple knocks in half of those affairs. Fields has hit .356 over his last 15 games with an OPS of 1.372. Nine of his 21 hits in that time have left the yard and 14 have gone for extra bases.

POTENT PITCHING: In 14 games against the Blue Rocks this season, Myrtle Beach's pitching staff owns a 1.08 ERA and a .180 batting average against. The Blue Rocks have been outscored 51-29 in those meetings.

WALKING & WHIFFING: In addition to 14 of the 29 runs being unearned, another reason the Pelicans' possess such a good ERA against the Blue Crew is their walk rate. Over 125 innings in the head-to-head meetings, Myrtle Beach has issued a total of 32 walks or 2.3/9 IP. During that time, the Pelicans have also logged 134 strikeouts for a 4.2:1 K:BB ratio and an average of more than 9.6/9 IP.

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY: The Blue Rocks' struggles against Southern Division teams continued as they fell to 18-38 against those clubs. That includes an 8-21 mark when in a Southern park. Wilmington is 23-16 overall against its brothers in the North.

SIMPSON SIR, SECTOR 7G: The Rocks have been bashing bombs at an incredible rate. Wilmington entered its last homestand with five homers over its first 39 home games. It then hit eight on the seven-game homestand. Since failing to homer on June 30, the Blue Rocks have slammed 23 dingers over 15 games for the highest total in the Carolina League this month.

FIVE ALIVE: For the second straight night, the CL's top pitching staff held the Blue Rocks to just five hits. Wilmington fell to 4-23 when held to five hits or less.

USE THE FORCE: Luke Jackson's 12 strikeouts place him in a tie with 11 others for the fifth-best single-game strikeout performance in the history of Pelicans baseball. It is the most by a Pelican in a game this season and the most by any hurler against the Rocks since Brian Matusz whiffed 13 on May 8, 2009 at Frederick. Matusz took the loss that day as Danny Duffy got the win in a 3-0 shutout. Jackson posted the highest single-game strikeout total by a Pelican against the Blue Rocks since Tommy Hanson notched 13 on Opening Night in 2008.

SECOND LIFE: In the first half, the Rocks scored just 227 runs for a league-low 3.2 runs/game average. Entering tonight, Wilmington has scored 133 runs over its first 25 games of the second stanza for an average of 5.3 runs/game. The team that hit 31 homers over the 70-game first half, the second-lowest total in the loop, has already bashed 30 in the second. The Blue Crew hit a league-worst .231 in the first half, but owns a .265 (229-for-863) clip this half. That run has been slowed this series with two runs scored thus far and a .164 (10-for-61) team average.

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Carolina League Stories from July 18, 2012


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