CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Suffer Series Sweep After Four-Run Potomac Eighth

Published on August 20, 2013 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE -Tied through seven innings, the wheels came off for the Wilmington Blue Rocks in the eighth, as an error and three wild pitches led to four Potomac runs and a 6-2 Nationals win on Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium. Swept in five games by their Northern Division foe, the Rocks also suffered their seventh straight loss, to drop the club to a season-worst 16 games under .500 (56-72). Making matters worse, the Blue Crew also lost ground in the second-half Northern Division wildcard chase, after a Lynchburg win over Myrtle Beach. Following Tuesday's action, Wilmington trails the Hillcats by 5.5 games for the final Northern Division playoff spot.

The Blue Rocks grabbed the lead first, plating two in the home-second off Matt Purke. Dennis Raben doubled to start the frame, and moved to third after a wild pitch by the Nats lefty. Sam Bates would then bring his teammate home, after a groundball was misplayed by shortstop Adrian Sanchez. Later on, Bates would also score, after a pair of singles by Daniel Mateo and Geulin Beltre.

Trailing 2-0, the P-Nats evened the count in the third inning. Cutter Dykstra reached on a one-out fielder's choice and advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Tripp Davis. Setting the table for Caleb Ramsey, the Nationals two-hole hitter singled to the opposite field to make it 2-1, before Michael Taylor doubled to left-center to even the count.

Both sides would go scoreless over the next four innings, but the Nationals would grab the lead for good in the eighth. After tossing a pair of scoreless innings, command issues resurfaced for Ali Williams (0-2) who allowed a leadoff double to Randolph Oduber to open the stanza. He advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Francisco Soriano, while a fielding error by Williams put a pair on base. With Cutter Dykstra batting, the Rocks reliever then uncorked a wild pitch to score Oduber, while a throwing error by catcher Parker Morin moved Soriano 90 feet from home. He scored on a second wild pitch by Williams, before a single and two more free passes prompted a pitching change. Ahead 4-2, Potomac added two additional runs on a groundball to the right side by Adrian Nieto, and the third wild pitch of inning.

Down to their final two at-bats, the Blue Rocks went quietly, as the combination of Greg Holt (8-0) and Rob Wort faced the minimum to complete the series sweep. Outstanding in relief, Holt earned his eighth victory of the campaign, scattering one hit over two scoreless innings.

Wilmington travels to Maryland to open a three-game series with the Frederick Keys on Wednesday night. Righty Leonel Santiago (3-2, 5.40) takes the mound for the Blue Rocks and will be opposed by Keys right-hander Zach Clark (0-6, 13.19). First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m. from Harry Grove Stadium, and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

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Making his second Advanced-A start, Tripp Davis held the Nationals off-balance for the majority of five innings. Tying his season-high for innings pitched, the lefty allowed two unearned runs on four hits while striking out three. Drawing his second straight no-decision, Davis has posted a 2.70 ERA over two starts with the Blue Rocks. A pitcher that relies heavily on command and changing speeds, Davis has allowed more hits (12) than innings pitched (10), but has not issued any walks. Signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Royals in June out of NJIT, the southpaw completed his college career as the school's Division I career leader in wins.

One of the Blue Rocks' hottest hitters of late, Justin Trapp lost his six-game hitting streak on Tuesday night, finishing 0-for-4. The six-game swing was the third longest of the season for the South Carolina native, who recently saw a season-best 11-game hitting streak end on August 13. Over the six-game stretch, Trapp hit .350 (7-for-20) with a home run, double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Coming off a challenging July where he hit just .196, the Rocks infielder has hit safely in 17 of 19 games in the month of August, and has posted a .316 batting average during that time. In the process, it has moved season average up to .266, after he started the month hitting .256.

On Tuesday, Wilmington was swept for the fifth time in 2013. It marked the first time that the Rocks had been blanked since July 21-23, when the club dropped three straight at Carolina. Additionally, it was the first time that the Blue Crew had been swept by a Northern Division club all season. Prior to the series finale, Vance Wilson's team had been held in check by Winston-Salem twice, Myrtle Beach once and Carolina once. A team that continues to surge, the Nationals have now taken six in a row against the Blue Rocks, and lead the season-series 12-5.

Although offense was not easy to come by in the final game of the homestand, the Blue Rocks got two strong performances from Ethan Chapman and Geulin Beltre. Chapman finished 1-for-4 and extended his on-base streak to 10 games. He also kept his batting average above the .250 mark, and is hitting .306 over 20 contests in August. That is a considerable improvement from a month earlier, where the 23-year-old hit just .213 over 25 games. The only Rocks hitter to finish with multiple knocks on Tuesday, Beltre went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while his single in the second inning snapped a slide of 17 hitless at-bats.

Despite inauspicious circumstances, Andrew Edwards pitched two scoreless innings in his Blue Rocks debut on the mound. Joining the club from Rookie-Burlington, the righty went 1-1 with eight saves and a 1.56 ERA with the Royals Appalachian League affiliate before his promotion. Edwards takes the roster spot of Andrew Triggs, who was promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas earlier in the day. One of the club's most consistent bullpen arms all year, the righty went 5-3 with nine saves and a 2.54 ERA during his time on the Riverfront. The nine saves ranked as the fourth-most in the CL, while he was nearly unhittable in the month of July. Over 10 relief appearances, Triggs tallied a 0.57 ERA, giving up only one run over 15.2 innings.

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Carolina League Stories from August 20, 2013


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