CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes

Published on July 6, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


ONE DAY AFTER THE FOURTH, ROCKS GET FOURTH STRAIGHT: Ramon Torres' bases-loaded walk in the top of the ninth inning lifted the Wilmington Blue Rocks to a 3-2 triumph over the Winston-Salem Dash on Saturday night at BB&T Ballpark. Torres' free pass came after he fell behind in the count 0-2, but four straight misses by reliever Zach Isler (1-5) plated Bubba Starling and Wilmington had its fourth straight win. The victory lifted the Rocks' second-half record back to .500 (8-8) and improved their over- all mark to 41-43 in 2014.

A NIFTY NINTH INNING: Starling opened the ninth inning with a walk. The center fielder had turned in the play of the game with a leaping catch against the wall in right-center in the previous half inning, and followed it up by working a full count and then drawing the free pass. Mark Threlkeld followed with a bloop single to right. After Michael Antonio laid down a sacrifice bunt, the Dash were anticipating a suicide squeeze try from Zane Evans. Twice Isler pitched out, but nothing was on. That helped Evans draw a base on balls that loaded the bases. Torres followed with his incredible at bat that put the Rocks in front to stay.

QUITE THE DEBUT: The newest Blue Rock had another productive day at the plate. Mark Threlkeld went 2-for-4 in the Rocks' 3-2 victory on Saturday, including the only hit of Wilmington's decisive top half of the ninth inning. Threlkeld now has four hits in eight Advanced-A at bats. The Louisiana native came to the Rocks from Double-A Northwest Arkansas, where he batted .253 with seven homers, 18 extra-base hits and 26 RBIs in 62 games for the Naturals.

RAMON RAKING: Ramon Torres arrived in Wilmington 24 hours before Threlkeld, and he also enjoyed a good night on Saturday. Torres drove in the winning run with his bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning. He also scored another run when he opened the sixth with a single and came home on Cody Stubbs' two-run homer. In three games with the Rocks, Torres is hitting .300 with a triple. three RBIs and two runs scored. The infielder opened the season at Low-A Lexington where he batted .304 with five homers, 22 extra-base hits, 26 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in 73 games with the Legends.

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END: The Rocks saw their scoreless streak come to a close early on Saturday. Wilmington had shutout each of its last two opponents and had not allowed a run in 17.1 consecutive frames entering Saturday. Winston-Salem went without a score in the opening inning, but plated its first run with no outs in the second, halting the streak at 18.1 frames. It was the second-longest streak of the season for Wilmington. The Rocks did not yield a score for 25.1 consecutive innings from May 26-29. Before Saturday the Rocks had last allowed a tally in the eighth inning on Tuesday.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER DARRYL KENNEDY: "That eighth-inning catch by Bubba Starling was incredible. We're in no-doubles defense and the ball was hit and I was just hoping it stays in the yard. I knew the kid hit it well. Then all of a sudden I'm watching Bubba, and I realize that he's got a beat on this thing. My first thought after that was that he's going to catch it on the track, and then all of a sudden he's jumping. Just a tremendous catch. It saved the game, really. If that ball goes off the wall in his position, it's a triple. I know he went 0-for-3, but he made the great catch in the eighth inning, he kept the game tied by throw- ing the guy out at the plate in the sixth and then worked a walk and scored the winning run in the ninth. It was a great game for Bubba [Saturday]...Without a doubt that catch provided a huge emotional lift for us. I honestly just sat there for like three minutes with my mouth wide open in shock. Guys were jumping around. It was incredible...One thing about Ramon Torres is that he does a great job of staying within himself and not getting too big. He doesn't chase a lot of pitches and he's not afraid. Without a doubt he is not afraid. He's fit in well with us since he's been up here and he's added some electricity to the lineup...That homer by Cody Stubbs was big because we had been struggling. He followed it up with a big hit in the eighth too. He's been doing that a lot for us all year. He's been a guy who has supplied some big at bats for us. It's nice that he can play the outfield, which allows us to get him in the lineup more often...That was just a good game. It was well played and fun to be a part of. It's certainly the type of game you want to win, and we're happy to come away with it.

THEY SAID IT, OUTFIELDER CODY STUBBS: "I've been hitting some balls hard, but haven't really been getting many breaks lately. [Marin] got two strikes on me, but he made a mistake and I got the pitch that I like to get and was able to hit it hard the other way. It gave us a little bit of a lift and then everybody else came up huge late to get us this impor- tant win...Milt Thompson and I freaked out when Bubba Starling made that catch in the eighth inning. We just turned our backs and walked away from each other. There's not much you can say about it besides that it was just an unbelievable catch. He makes that play and it keeps them from scoring. Instead we score in the next inning and get a win. That's him. There's not much more you can say about how unbelievable he is as an outfielder...Every day you come to the park with a fresh slate. It doesn't matter whether you go 0-for-4 or 4-for-4, or whether you win or lose, tomorrow is a fresh day. We used that mantra when we were on a losing streak and we use it on a winning streak too. That's base- ball. You always gotta keep pushing forward."

Today's Starters

WIL: RHP Miguel Almonte (5-5, 4.17)

vs.

WS: RHP Angel Sanchez (0-0, 0.00)

Miguel Almonte will take the mound Saturday for the 15th time as a member of the Wilmington Blue Rocks. He is the latest hard- throwing Kansas City Royals prospect to hone his craft in Wilmington, following in the footsteps of Yordano Ventura and Kyle Zimmer. Almonte, the No. 5 prospect in the Kansas City Royals organization according to Baseball America, has had a mostly solid season. He has shined, at times, including during a 6.1-inning shutout performance on May 28 at Carolina. He was also excellent in his first start of the campaign on April 8 against Winston-Salem. Almonte tossed 5.2 scoreless frames while yield- ing just one hit and striking out three that night. He was also bril- liant in his third start of the year, on April 16 at Lynchburg. That evening, the right-hander pitched six shutout innings and allowed just one hit while striking out eight. Last time out in Salem, Almonte was fantastic for 6.1 quality frames. He yielded three runs on six hits while punchout out four and walking two. Opposing batters are hitting a combined .248 against Almonte. Lefties are batting .279 against the flame-throwing righty, while righties are hitting only .230 against him. Almonte has lasted at least five innings in 12 of his 14 starts thus far. He has faced the Winston- Salem Dash twice this season. against the Dash, Almonte has allowed a combined four runs (one earned) on seven hits over 9.2 innings pitched. He has punched out six Dash and walked three It has been a rough season so far for right-hander Angel Sanchez, who has already been put on waivers by two different organizations in 2014. Sanchez began the campign as the 16th- ranked prospect in the Miami Marlins system, according to Baseball America. He put up miserable numbers for the Marlins' Double-A club in Jacksonville, going 0-8 with a 6.88 ERA and a .314 bating average against in 12 starts for the Suns. The Marlins put him on waivers where he was claimed by the Tampa Bay Rays on June 13. Sanchez lasted just two Double-A starts in the Tampa system, allowing eight runs in nine total innings with the Montgomery Biscuits. The White Sox claimed him off waivers on July 2. Sanchez, who is the nephew of for- mer big leaguer Geraldo Guzman, began his career in the Dodgers system. Los Angeles sent the Dominican Republic native to the Marlins as part of the Ricky Nolasco trade in July, 2013. He signed with the Dodgers for just $7,500.

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