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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Dash Take Seventh Straight in Weekend Sweep

April 29, 2012 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The pitching struggled, the defense had a few errors, and the offense had trouble putting runs on the board. It all added up to the Wilmington Blue Rocks (9-13) being swept in the finale of a three-game set by the Winston-Salem Dash (14-8) with a final score of 9-2 at Frawley Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Erratic early, things spiraled out of control completely on starting pitcher Yordano Ventura (0-2) in the middle innings. With his team down 2-1 in the fourth inning, he gave up a leadoff homer to Michael Earley, his second of the series and fourth of the season, to make it 3-1. The next batter, Nick Ciolli, reached on a fielding error by Brian Fletcher. Daniel Wagner dribbled a ball through the second base side on a hit-and-run to set up runners at the corners. Marcus Semien tacked onto the lead with a long flyout to left field, as the Dash went up 4-1.

The Rocks fought back to get a run in the bottom of the fourth, but Dan Black slammed a home run to right-center field to lead off the fifth inning, as they took back their three-run lead. On the next pitch, Ventura drilled Brady Shoemaker in the back. That was his last pitch of the day as manager Vance Wilson gave him the hook right after.

Ryan Dennick came in and struggled as well, allowing runs to score in both the sixth and seventh innings. Cole White relieved Dennick in the eighth and allowed an unearned run, as the Dash went up 9-2 and rolled to victory.

The Blue Rocks got the scoring started in the first inning when Roman Hernandez looped a two-out, RBI basehit to put his squad up 1-0. In the midst of that single, Winston-Salem second baseman Carlos Sanchez fielded the ball on the short outfield grass. Geulin Beltre, who was on first, touched second base and then hesitated before being gunned down at third base to end the frame.

The Blue Rocks left six men on base in the first four innings and then went in order from the fifth to seventh innings.

Spencer Arroyo (1-1) was brilliant for the Dash. Navigating out of trouble in the first few frames, he tossed six innings of two-run (one earned) ball, while striking out seven batters and only walking two.

For the second night in a row, all nine Dash batters either scored or drove in a run. Earley and Wagner each had a pair of hits while Ciolli scored two runs and Sanchez picked up two RBIs.

After being swept by the Dash, the Blue Rocks welcome in the Salem Red Sox for a four-game set beginning on Monday evening with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. Wilmington right-hander Greg Billo (1-3, 5.00) will square off with lefty Drake Britton (1-2, 9.87). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:05 p.m. as studio host Rob Cunningham brings fans the Rocks Report Pre-game Show, presented by Wawa, on 89.7 WGLS-FM and online at wgls.rowan.edu.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The Blue Rocks had not been swept by the Dash in a three-game set since 2007 when they fell to Winston-Salem from April 19-21 at Ernie Shore Field.

Blue Rocks catcher Kevin David roped a triple to lead off the second inning. It was only his second career triple. His last one came on June 27 of last year while playing in the Arizona League.

Yordano Ventura had allowed six runs all year coming into Sunday. He allowed five Dash players to cross the plate in the finale with Winston-Salem, with four of them being earned.

The Winston-Salem starting pitching nicely complemented their hitting this weekend. The three starters for the Dash allowed just two earned runs in 15 innings for a sparkling 1.20 ERA.

Mired in a five-game losing streak, the Blue Rocks hadn't lost five straight ballgames since they fell in five straight contests from July 21-26 of 2011. That came at the hands of three different teams; the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Kinston Indians and the Potomac Nationals.

The whole weekend saw the Blue Rocks fail to cash in on their scoring chances. They went 2-for-12 with RISP on Sunday afternoon. Wilmington went 3-for-33 with RISP during the weekend series against Winston-Salem. They are now hitting 37-for-190 (.195) with RISP and rank last in the Carolina League.

Utility man Angel Franco went 1-for-3 and extended his hit streak to 12 games. It came down to his final at bat in the ninth inning. A slow roller up the middle behind the second base bag went off the glove of shortstop Marcus Semien and was ruled a hit. Over that time he has gone 19-for-38 (.500) with four doubles, seven RBIs and eight runs scored. Franco has struck out just twice during the streak.

Brian Fletcher failed to reach base in Sunday's contest. That ended his seven-game hitting streak and stopped his streak of reaching base safely at 19 games.

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