CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes

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


UN-FRIENDLY SKIES: The only thing standing between the Wilmington Blue Rocks and their second three-game sweep of the year Thursday night was bad weather. Just before first pitch between the Blue Crew and the P-Nats, the skies opened up forcing a delay for the second consecutive night. Though the rain did stop for a little while, impending thunderstorms and severe weather made it impossible to begin play. The washout was Wilmington's ninth of the season and the game will be made up as part of a doubleheader when Potomac returns to town between August 26-29. The specific date will be announced at a later time.

DOMINANT PERFORMANCE AFTER DELAY: Wilmington's longest weather delay of the year couldn't keep the Blue Rocks from a 4-0 rain-shortened victory over the Potomac Nationals Wednesday night at Frawley Stadium. The game was delayed for two hours and 11 minutes after a half inning because of rain and lightning. However, the skies cleared in time for the game to restart at 9:30 p.m. and once it got back under- way, the Blue Crew jumped ahead quickly and never looked back. Rain stopped play again after seven innings and the game was called after a 37-minute delay. With the win, Wilmington improved to 39-43 overall and 6-8 in the second half.

CLUTCH PERFORMANCE FROM WALTER: Johnny Walter turned in, by far, his best relief outing of the year. It was also his longest. He tossed 4.1 scoreless frames after the two hour and 11 minute weather delay forced Sean Manaea out of the game after an inning. Walter struck out six, including five of the first six he faced and did not issue a free pass. He yielded just one base hit, which w as to the second-to-last hitter he faced. Walter had worked multiple innings in nine of his previous 15 relief outings and three innings twice. As a whole, the Blue Rocks bullpen has been one of the team's strengths in 2014. Collectively, the 'pen has posted a 17-12 record and a 3.06 ERA in 279.2 innings pitched. They have struck out 259 and walked 89.

BLANKINGS BY THE BLUE CREW: The Blue Rocks picked up their sixth shutout win of the season in Wednesday's seven-inning 4-0 win over the Nationals. Wilmington is now 7-3 in shutouts this year and those seven victories are second in the league to the Salem Red Sox's eight blankings. The team's most recent shutout victory had been on June 13 at Frawley Stadium against the Carolina Mudcats. It was a combined effort between Christian Binford and Kyle Bartsch in the opening game of a doubleheader. Binford tossed six innings and struck out five while Bartsch completed the game with a scoreless seventh. Wilmington has shut out Winston-Salem twice, Carolina three times, Frederick once and now Potomac once. The Blue Crew has been shut out once by Winston-Salem, once by Carolina and once by Lynchburg.

POWERING UP: Cam Gallagher has flexed his muscle a little bit in Wednesday night's win over the Nationals. Gallagher went 2-for-2 with a homer, a run, two RBIs and a walk. The home run was his second long ball of the year and a no-doubt-about-it shot out of the ballpark to left. Gallagher has heated up in a big way lately. In Wilmington's last 10 games, he is batting .320 (8-for-25) with two homers, four runs and 10 RBIs. On the campaign, Gallagher owns a .225 batting average to go along with 16 runs, 12 doubles, no triples, two homers and 23 RBIs. He has struck out 23 times and walked 23 times while playing in 57 games for the Blue Crew.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER DARRYL KENNEDY: "That's probably the biggest disappointment for any starting pitcher, [Sean Manaea] waits five days to get to pitch and then one inning into it rain comes and he's shut down. He got a little wild there but for the most part the ball was coming out of his hand pretty good. Like his last outing, I thought he was going to throw the ball well...There's no lobbying when it comes to something like [pitching after a delay]. We have a 30-minute rule [and] once those 30 minutes are up he's done. He's starting to find his groove. The fastball command is starting to get there a little bit. He's just repeating his delivery, that's the big thing. You've got a big guy out there, he's a big man on the mound and he's got a lot of moving parts. It's just going to take him a little bit to smooth those out. As the season's gone on he's gotten better and better and I think there is still more in there for him. He's making pretty solid progress...An outstanding performance by [Johnny] Walter. He was the most rested guy in the 'pen, he hadn't pitched in four or five days so we were hoping to get him to the fifth. If he could just get us four innings, that's what our goal was and then after he finished the fifth inning we looked up and I think he had 40 pitches at the time so after that it was just a matter of trying to squeeze an out here and there to try and save the bullpen because anytime you have to bring someone in in the second inning you're going to tax your bullpen and he picked us up. It was the best I've seen him throw this year. He was very impressive...[Cam Gallagher] swung the bat well, no doubt about it. An RBI single there in the second inning and then probably the furthest ball he's hit this year. He put some good swings on it. I know he's done a lot in the cage with Milt [Thompson] working on his swing and trying to get back to what he has done before and it's starting to payoff."

THEY SAID IT, CATCHER CAM GALLAGHER: "It is pretty difficult [coming back after a delay like that]. Looking at the radar a lot of guys are saying there's no way we're going to play but you've got to mentally keep yourself in the game and be prepared mentally and physically to go out there and play."

Today's Starters

WIL: RHP Glenn Sparkman (3-2, 1.76)

vs.

WS: RHP Tony Bucciferro (6-6, 3.53)

Right-hander Glenn Sparkman has been one of Wilmington's most reliable pitchers this season. He has posted a 3-2 record and a 1.76 ERA in 18 appearances (seven 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. He followed that up by pitching five shutout innings and yielding only three hits in each of his next three starts, against the Carolina Mudcats on May 21, the Frederick Keys on June 2 and the Potomac Nationals on June 8. That outing against the P-Nats earned him his first win as a starter. Last time out on June 27 against Lynchburg, Sparkman was tremendous again. He turned in his longest outing of the year and gave up one run on seven hits over six innings pitched. However, he took the tough-luck loss because the Blue Rocks were no-hit for the second consecutive night. On the season, righties are batting just .236 against him while lefties are hitting a mere .192. The right-hander has punched out 53 and walked only 14 batters in 56.1 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.Ohio, and can even touch up to 94 miles-per-hour.

Tony Bucciferro was drafted out of Michigan State University by the Chicago White Sox in the 14th round of the 2012 draft. Bucciferro has known nothing but success as a pro, thus far, and had amassed a career 10-12 record to go along with a sparkling 3.02 ERA in 38 appearances (31 starts). While at Michigan State, Bucciferro set a new Michigan State record for starts (55) and innings pitched (372.1) over a collegiate career. He also is second on the all-time Spartan strikeout list with 272. Bucciferro pitched in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League for the Brewster Whitecaps during the summer of 2011 and delivered fantastic numbers there, as well. In eight starts for the Whitecpas, he had a 1-4 record and a 1.90 ERA. The reason Bucciferro has had success at every level thus far is command. According to Fangraphs, he led the Minor Leagues in FIP last season at 1.74. In 2014, Bucciferro is 6-6 with a 3.53 ERA in 16 starts. He has struck out 72 and walked only 10 in 99.1 innings this season. Last time out, against Carolina, he gave up five runs (four earned) over seven innings. Bucciferro has faced the Blue Rocks two times this year and has allowed five runs (four earned) on 12 hits over 12 innings pitched.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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



Carolina League Stories from July 4, 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