CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Deuces Wild in Blue Rocks Win

Published on May 4, 2018 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (13-14) came out on top in a back-and-forth battle against the Frederick Keys (10-18) with an 8-5 victory Friday night at Frawley Stadium. The Blue Rocks strung together four straight innings from the fifth to the eighth in which they plated a pair of runs to help pull away from the Keys in the series opener. Offensively, the Rocks had four different hitters collect multiple hits while D.J. Burt drove in a season-high three runs.

Wilmington erased a 2-0 deficit in the fifth inning. With runners at first and second and nobody out, Kort Peterson dropped a sacrifice bunt down. Frederick's starting pitcher Ofelky Peralta fielded the bunt and threw wide of third base to allow Chase Vallot to score, who was advancing to third on the play, to make it a 2-1 contest. Burt followed and slashed a double down the first base line to score Angelo Castellano to tie the game. In the top of the sixth inning, Frederick manufactured a run when Preston Palmeiro led the inning off with a triple and scored on a Randolph Gassaway groundout to put the Keys back in front, 3-2. Jomar Reyes followed with a solo homer to make it a 4-2 deficit for the Rocks.

The rallying Rocks tied the game in their half of the sixth with patience at the plate. With two outs in the inning, Chris DeVito singled before Vallot and Castellano each walked to load the bases. Peterson and Burt continued the trend and tied the game up with bases loaded walks to tie the game at 4-4.

In the seventh, the Rocks would take their first lead of the game when Emmanuel Rivera crushed a leadoff solo home run to put the Rocks ahead 5-4. Wilmington added another run in the frame thanks to Brandon Downes stealing second, advancing to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by Frederick's catcher Yojhan Quevedo to pad the Rocks' lead, 6-4. The Keys made it a one-run game again in the eighth inning on a fielder's choice before the Rocks added a pair of insurance runs in their half of the inning to pull away from Frederick.

The Blue Rocks and Keys play the second game of the three-game set on Saturday, May 5. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. with righty Anthony Bender (1-0, 3.79 ERA) making the start for Wilmington while right-hander Jhon Peluffo (2-0, 3.29 ERA) starts for Frederick. Fans can listen to the game as Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh will have the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Emmanuel Rivera hit his second home run of the season as the third baseman reached base four times in Friday night's win. With the solo shot, Rivera added to his RBI total and now has 19 on the season which paces the Wilmington squad overall. Chase Vallot, Khalil Lee, and Kort Peterson are the other four hitters for Wilmington that has double-digit RBI on the season. Rivera also became the fifth Blue Rock to post multiple home runs on the year and is tied for third on the team with Brandon Downes and Khalil Lee. The Rocks have also hit a homer in 16 of the first 27 games of the season.

D.J. Burt turned in a productive night at the plate Friday, driving in a season-high three runs for his first, multi-RBI game of the season. It marked the first time since April 25 of last season the infielder drove in three runs in a game. Through 15 games this season, Burt is hitting .373 (19-for-51) and has six multi-hit games. Burt is spending his second season with the Rocks in more of a utility role, making starts at second base, shortstop and his first-career start in left field earlier this year.

The Rocks posted double-digit hits for the second time in three games.  On Wednesday at Potomac, the Blue Crew set a season-high with 16 hits in a 12-7 win. Overall, Wilmington has collected three double-digit hit games this season. The first time the Rocks reached 10 or more hits was back on April 19 at Frederick. Overall, Wilmington is 3-0 when pounding out double-digit hits.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 4, 2018


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