CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Swept by Dash

Published on August 19, 2018 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Winston-Salem, N.C. - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (60-65/29-26) fought bravely but ended up getting walked off twice by the Winston-Salem Dash (75-48/34-19) in game one by a score of 5-3 and game two by a score of 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at BB&T Ballpark. Wilmington starter Ofreidy Gomez was fantastic in game one. The righty went seven full innings giving up only five hits, two runs, and no walks while also collecting four strikeouts.

GAME ONE

Game one of the doubleheader saw the Rocks battle back and force extra innings. The Dash jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first. Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal started the inning with back-to-back hit by pitches. Both runners advanced on a Blake Rutherford groundout. Yermin Mercedes hit a fly ball deep into right to score Robert and give Winston-Salem the 1-0 lead.

The Blue Rocks tied the game in the top of the fourth. Vance Vizcaino started the inning off with a triple down the right field line. Angelo Castellano smacked a sacrifice fly deep into left to score Vizcaino and knot the game up at 1-1. Winston-Salem regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth after Mercedes hit a leadoff solo home run to put the Dash back on top 2-1. Wilmington responded in the top of the fifth. D.J. Burt hit a deep fly ball that rolled all the way to the wall for a triple. Emmanuel Rivera grounded out to second while Burt advanced to home to tie the game at 2-2.

The game advanced into extra innings where Wilmington grabbed its first lead of the game in the top of the eighth. With Travis Jones on second, Vizcaino singled through the gap in left to put runners on the corners with no outs. After a swinging strikeout by Castellano, Nathan Espostio dropped a sacrifice bunt to move Vizcaino to second and to score Jones to make it 3-2 Blue Rocks. Winston-Salem came away with the walk off win in the bottom of the eighth. Mercedes slugged a no-doubter into left field, scoring three runs and giving the Dash the 5-3 win.

GAME TWO

The second game of the doubleheader did not need extras but did have a rain delay that lasted 42 minutes before play would resume in the top of the third inning. Wilmington jumped out to a lead before the delay in the top of the third. With Jackson Lueck on second, Rudy Martin struck out swinging but a wild pitch by Luis Martinez moved Martin to first and Lueck to third with no outs in the inning. Burt hit a sharp grounder to second to score Lueck and put the Rocks on top 1-0. The Dash responded in the bottom of the third. Luis Gonzalez lined a double into right that was deep enough to score Zach Remillard and tie the game at 1-1.

The Blue Rocks regained the lead in the top of the fourth. With one out and nobody on, Oliver Nunez legged out an inside-the-park home run to push Wilmington ahead 2-1. Winston-Salem knotted the game up in the bottom of the fourth. With runners on first and second Remillard roped a double into center to score Mercedes and make it a 2-2 ballgame. Wilmington acquired the lead once again in the top of the sixth. After Meibrys Viloria was hit by a pitch, Jones singled to left to put runners on first and second with no outs. Vizcaino grounded out to first base to move the runners up a base with only one out. Nunez grounded out up the middle, Jones moved to third and Viloria scored to put the Blue Rocks in front, 3-2. The Dash answered in the bottom of the sixth. Remillard launched a solo shot into left field to make it even once again at 3-3.

The Dash walked off once again in the bottom of the seventh. Luis Gonzalez singled and Robert walked to put runners on first and second with no outs. Rutherford grounded into a forceout that put runners on the corners with one out. Mercedes hit a single through the gap in left to score Gonzalez and give the Dash the 4-3 win.

The Blue Rocks will travel back to Wilmington as they prepare to host the Down East Wood Ducks on Monday, August 20 at Frawley Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Wilmington will send southpaw Daniel Tillo (2-3, 4.33 ERA) to the mound. Down East will have fellow lefty Joe Palumbo (1-4, 2.67 ERA) to oppose him. Fans, if you can't make it out to Frawley, you can catch all the action with Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh on the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE

With three triples in game one of the doubleheader, the Blue Rocks have tied a franchise record for most triples in a game. This is just the seventh time in franchise history that the Blue Rocks have hit three triples in one game. The last time Wilmington accomplished the feat was on August 10, 2012 in a 9-1 win against Salem. The Blue Rocks have never hit four or more triples in one game. Vance Vizcaino, D.J. Burt, and Travis Jones all hit for triples with Vizcaino and Jones hitting their first triples of the season Sunday afternoon.

Blue Rocks' starter Ofreidy Gomez earned another quality start on Sunday afternoon. The right hander went seven full innings giving up only five hits and two runs while striking out four. For Gomez this is his 12th quality start on the year including his seventh one in a row. The outing on Sunday was also the 18th time this season a Blue Rocks' starter has pitched for seven full innings. Gomez himself has accomplished the feat three times this season.

Wilmington is now 2-3-4 (Won-Lost-Split) in doubleheaders this season. The Rocks also drop to an even 4-4 in games that go into extra innings. The doubleheader on Sunday closed out the season series between the Blue Rocks and the Dash. Winston-Salem ultimately won the season series 9-5 in 2018. Wilmington has closed the book on all but one of their Southern Division opponents this season with the Down East Wood Ducks traveling to Frawley Stadium on Monday for one final three game series. Overall, Wilmington is 14-22 when playing against Southern opponents but do maintain an 8-8 record when they are the hosts.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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



Carolina League Stories from August 19, 2018


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