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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Dziedzic Strong For Wilmington, But Rocks Shut Out By Pelicans

August 5, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Blue Rocks were shut out and held to just six hits on Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium in a 2-0 loss to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. With the defeat, Wilmington fell to 20-22 in the second half and 53-57 overall. The Rocks sit in third place in the CL North, four games behind the Potomac Nationals for first and one game behind the Lynchburg Hillcats for a playoff spot.

The Pelicans scored single tallies in the first and the second innings to take a 2-0 lead. Chris Garia led off the contest with a base hit and then promptly stole both second and third. Garia scored on a fielding error by Ramon Torres after Zane Evans attempted to gun him down at third. Edwin Garcia began the second frame with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He scored on an RBI single by David Lyon

From then on, pitching ruled the day for both sides.

Southpaw Chad James was dominant for the Pelicans and he kept the Blue Rocks off-balance all night. He yielded just four hits and three walks across six shutout innings. James also fanned nine, two of the looking variety. During one stretch between the second and fifth innings, James retired 10 straight.

Jonathan Dziedzic nearly matched him for the Blue Rocks, bouncing back from a rough start last time out in Lynchburg. The left-hander gave up just two runs, one of them earned, across six solid frames. Dziedzic allowed just two hits and one walk while punching out three.

Both bullpens were equally effective. Sam Stafford and Ryan Bores a combined for three shutout innings to seal the victory for Myrtle Beach. Aroni Nina and Daniel Stumpf joined forces to hurl three scoreless frames of relief to keep the Blue Crew in the game.

James (3-1, 3.48) picked up the win for Myrtle Beach while Dziedzic (5-6, 2.42) took the tough-luck loss for Wilmington. Ryan Bores earned his second save of the year.

The Rocks return to action on Wednesday night at Frawley Stadium for the second of three games against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Right-hander Luis Santos (3-2, 5.48) is scheduled to take the mound for the Blue Rocks. The Pelicans will counter with southpaw Luis Parra (8-6, 5.20). First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. For tickets, call 302-888-BLUE.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Jonathan Dziedzic rebounded after a rough outing in Lynchburg with six fantastic frames on Tuesday. The southpaw yielded just two runs (one earned) on five hits. Dziedzic struck out three and, most importantly, walked only one. Last time out, in Lynchburg on July 30, he walked five and gave up three hits in just three innings pitched. Over his last six starts, spanning the entire month of July and August so far, Dziedzic has an ERA of 1.13 and has thrown a combined 32 innings while yielding just five runs (four earned) and 25 hits. Still, though, the 2014 Carolina League All-Star has not recorded a win since his May 24 outing against the Frederick Keys. In fact, he took the tough-luck loss on Tuesday, his sixth, during his stellar outing. Overall this season, Dziedzic is 5-6 with a 2.42 ERA in 20 starts. He has punched out 93 and walked 33 while giving up 94 hits over 104 innings pitched.

The Blue Rocks were shut out in Tuesday night's loss to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans for just the fourth time this season. Wilmington's other shutout losses this year came on April 13 against the Winston-Salem Dash, April 24 against the Carolina Mudcats and June 27 against the Lynchburg Hillcats. That June 27 contest against the Hillcats was the second of back-to-back no hitters that Lynchburg threw against Wilmington. On the flip side, the Blue Rocks lead the Carolina League in shutout victories. The Blue Crew is 13-4 overall in shutouts this year. Salem is second in the circuit with 10 shutout wins. The Rocks have blanked Frederick twice, Winston-Salem four times, Carolina three times, Potomac twice, Lynchburg once and Salem once.

Zane Evans stayed hot on Tuesday and delivered a pair of hits for the Blue Rocks. The right-handed hitting backstop finished the evening 2-for-4 at the plate with a double. Evans entered Wednesday night's contest in Lynchburg mired in a 3-for-29 slump but has since broken through and recorded at least one hit in six consecutive contests. During that stretch, he is batting a combined .375 (9-for-24). The six-game hitting streak ties a season high for Evans. He also accomplished the feat from April 19-24, in games against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and the Carolina Mudcats. He batted .429 (9-for-21) with two doubles and two RBIs. during that first six-game hitting streak. In the month of August, Evans is now hitting .353 (6-for-17) with a run, a double, a homer and three RBIs. Overall this year, Evans is hitting .234 with 27 runs, 19 doubles, three homers and 27 RBIs.

Wilmington's struggled with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans this season continued on Tuesday night. The Blue Rocks are now 3-11 against the Pelicans in 2014 and they have been outmatched both at home and on the road this season. The Rocks are 2-5 at Frawley Stadium against the Pelicans and 1-6 at TicketReturn.Com Field. The Blue Crew's numbers against Myrtle Beach this year are not pretty. As a team, the Rocks are batting just .206 with 45 runs scored and three home runs in 14 games against the Pelicans, who are collectively batting .270 against Blue Rocks pitching. Myrtle Beach has also slugged 10 home runs against the Blue Crew, far and away the most allowed to any team by Wilmington. No other club has hit more than six dingers off of the Rocks' pitching staff. Pelican pitchers have a 2.39 ERA in the head-to-head series, but they have walked 61 Rocks in 120 innings. Conversely, Blue Crew hurlers have a 5.28 ERA against the Pelicans in 116 total frames.

THEY SAID IT:

Manager Darryl Kennedy:

"I thought our pitchers did a really good job tonight keeping the ballgame in reach. [Jonathan] Dziedzic gave us six pretty good innings; [Aroni] Nina came out and gave us two and I thought [Daniel] Stumpf did a great job there. Nina made really good pitches with a runner at second with the left-hander up to get a strikeout to end the eighth. Everything was set. We had first and third right there with [Cody] Stubbs. I went to [him] thinking we could hopefully get an opposite field home run like he's done in the past. Then we got bases loaded, Michael [Antonio] right there. I was hoping to get a ball in the gap. I thought if we could just get the ball in the gap, we'd have a chance to win the ballgame."

"I thought our one big chance was that ninth inning. Bases loaded, one out. You've got [Michael] Antonio hitting right there and then the top of the order. I thought that was our biggest true chance to get anything going. They made the pitches and we didn't get the hit."

"I think the biggest thing, [Zane Evans] stopped pressing and trying to do to much. I think for a while there, he was really trying to get the ball out of the ballpark. A little over-swinging [and being] a little too aggressive and chasing a lot of pitches. The last week or so, he's seemed to calm down a little bit and put a better swing on the ball."

"When you're not getting many hits, you've got to try and create something. Mondi had a pretty good jump and the guy made a perfect throw. Hindsight is 20-20 and you can sit back and hope that we hit a three-run homer but we don't have that many home runs. You've got to try to create something."

"[Jonathan Dziedzic] was able to use all of his pitches and throw them for strikes. For the most part, he was ahead in the count tonight. That was the biggest difference...They always throw side [sessions]. Every starter is going to have an off night. Every starter that pitches this game is going to have an off night and his off night was in Lynchburg."

Catcher Zane Evans:

"I'm just trying to relax. I was getting in some tense situations at the plate and wasn't being myself. That's not who I am. I went to the cage, worked with Milt [Thompson] and he got me right. I'm just relaxing [now] and getting good pitches to hit."

"I was getting myself out, pretty much, swinging at bad pitches. All I've got to relax, which is what I'm trying to do."

"It might not have gone that way if [Raul Mondesi] got to second. I might have gotten pitched differently. I know he got thrown out, but that's part of the game, too."

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