Sports stats



CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Swept by Powerful Potomac,Drop Series Finale 9-4

April 11, 2016 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Potomac Nationals (3-0) came into Frawley Stadium and powered their way over the Wilmington Blue Rocks, capping the series with three more home runs and taking the finale by a 9-4 score. Drew Ward hit his second home run of the season, Jose Marmolejos hit his first of the year and Osvaldo Abreu belted a solo home run as the Blue Crew's arms gave up five total home runs in the series sweep.

Ward started the scoring in the top of the second inning with a soloblast to right-center off of Blue Rocks starter Matt Tenuta. The home run was Ward's second of the three game series and gave the P-Nats a 1-0 lead. While facing that 1-0 deficit in the third inning, the home squad responded by taking advantage of a Potomac error. Humberto Arteaga connected for a single with one out and Ryan O'Hearn followed with one of his own to left field, but Nationals left-fielder Alec Keller misplayed the ball, which allowed Arteaga to move from first to third on the play and O'Hearn to reach second. Elier Hernandez come to the plate next and ripped a single to right to tie the game 1-1, but the Blue Crew could not push across any more runs in the frame.

Marmolejos' two-run shot off of Tenuta in the third pushed the Nationals back out in front 3-1, but the Blue Rocks came back once again. O'Hearn strolled to the plate in the fifth inning and collected the first extra base hit of the season for the boys in blue and white, which cut the deficit down to 3-2. Although Hernandez struck out in the next at bat, Alfredo Escalera's first hit of the year knotted the game at three a piece after five frames.

However, Mark McCoy, who was able to strand the lone baserunner he inherited in the top of the fifth when replacing Tenuta, walked the first two batters of the top of the sixth. That put the home team in a jam and it appeared McCoy would get some help with a potential double play ball to second, but Corey Toups misplayed the ball, allowing the P-NAts to take the 4-3 lead. McCoy hit the next batter he faced to reload the bases and Bryan Mejia continued to stroke at the plate, belting a two run double to left to chase McCoy. The Nationals would score one more run in the frame on an infield single by Khayyan Norfork to jump ahead 7-3.

It looked like the Blue Rocks were going to get right back into the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as they had the bases loaded with nobody out. But Chad Johnson, who was on third base, misread a ball that got past Nationals' catcher Raudy Read and got thrown out trying to score on the errant pitch. That stopped the potential big inning as the Blue Crew was able to scratch across just one run on a ground out by Arteaga.

The Nationals added a run in the eighth on a solo shot by Abreu and another in the ninth on a triple by Andrew Stevenson for the eventual 9-4 win. The Nationals 2-5 batters each hit a home run in the series with Ward hitting a pair. Jake Johansen (1-0) grabbed the win for the Nationals while McCoy(0-1) was saddled with the loss in the series finale. The Blue Rocks are back at it tomorrow night at home at 6:35 p.m. The Frawley boys will toss RHP Ashton Goudeau against a pitcher to be announced for the Carolina Mudcats. Fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM or BlueRocks.com. For tickets, please call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com

Pebbles of Knowledge

The Blue Rocks got tremendous production from their 2-6 batters. Humberto Arteaga went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, an RBI and his second stolen base of the season. Ryan O'Hearn went 3-for-5 picking up hits in each of his first three at bats including the Blue Crew's first extra base hit of the season when he drove in a run with a double in the fifth. Elier Hernandez also went 3-for-5 while driving in a run from the four spot while Alfredo Escalera reached base twice for the second straight game, going 1-for-4 with an RBI and a walk. Wander Franco went 0-for-3, and Chad Johnson went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a team high three games.

While the middle of the lineup collected nine of the 12 hits, the Blue Rocks continued to have trouble putting the ball in play in general. The Blue Crew struck out eleven times during the game to push their three game series total to 38 after striking out 15 times on Thursday and 12 on Friday. Last year's squad struck out 10+ times in 28 different games, but this year's iteration has done it in all three games of the season.

The Blue Rocks got their longest outing of the early season from Matt Tenuta who went 4.2 innings pitched allowing three runs, all earned while walking four and striking out one batter. That meant manager Jamie Quirk had to go to the bullpen early. The bullpen pitched the final 4.1 innings of the game, giving up six runs, four earned while striking out four and walking two. The bullpen pitched 14.2 innings during the three game series while giving up ten runs, but with only six of those earned.

Potomac Nationals' base runners will be happy to leave Frawley Stadium as the pitchers picked off five different would be base stealers and Chad Johnson nabbed his first outright stealer of the season. Andrew Stevenson was the biggest offender, getting picked off three times in the series including twice on Thursday. The Blue Rocks pitching staff picked off at least one baserunner in every game during the three game series.

They Said It

Manager Jamie Quirk

"We got a lot of hits, but we just didn't do it with runners in scoring position and we had a chance to kind of break it open there a couple of times. The good side is we started to hit the ball, but we just couldn't not get the big hit."

"It's huge to see the middle of the lineup guys get going. It's extremely nice because those are the guys you count on as the season goes on and they're starting to get a feel for it. Ryan (O'Hearn) and (Elier) Hernandez and (Alfredo) Escalera all swung the bat well today. But scoring runs and driving in runs, those are the big ones and we're getting them on, but we just couldn't get them in today."

"He (Chad Johnson) just reacted too late and by that time you just got to stop. He was there. It was kind of like he processed it, "go," but it was too late. When you're down and you've got bases loaded there, you're just better off holding off. If you're reading it right away and if he broke right away he was probably going to be safe. On the flip side their catcher made a heck of a play. Not too many times do you see that. Usually that ball is thrown away and that ball is rattling around the infield somewhere, but he threw a bullet right there and on their end they made a great play."

"I think McCoy coming in and walking the first two batters and hitting that guy in the sixth after we tied the game up was probably the turning point of the game. That hurt. We needed to get a zero there and get our bats back up there after tying the game."

Humberto Arteaga

"I felt really good at the plate today. The first two games were really rough with the cold and stuff. Today was a good sign and a good change for all of us. Our offense was good with all the hits, but we lost the game and that happens."

"I worked a lot on my running and base stealing this past offseason. In winter ball and in spring training. I've been working on my speed work and I'm looking forward to having a good base running year and so we'll see what happens."

"I've been playing short my whole life and have only been playing second the last couple of seasons. The biggest difference between the two is really moving about the infield, but I had to put in more work to feel comfortable at second, but I feel great at both positions and I trust my defense, both in my hands and my feet."

"I was talking with (Abraham) Nunez about my twelve pitch at bat. In my first two games, I was a little anxious at the dish and that first at bat in this game I took the first two pitches right down the middle and I was like "man, I shouldn't have done that." But that at bat helped me stay short on the ball and put the ball in play. I had a lot of foul balls. I didn't feel happy about it because I missed a lot of pitches, but I think that first at bit was the key for the rest of the game."

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics



Carolina League Stories from April 11, 2016


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