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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

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July 5, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Woodbridge, VA - Ryan Stovall's two-out single in the first inning gave his Wilmington Blue Rocks a 1-0 lead. Then things fell apart. The Potomac Nationals (36-46, 7-6) responded with 12 straight runs en route to a 12-3 rout of the Blue Crew (41-41, 5-8) at Pfitzner Stadium. The scoring run included an eight-run second that chased starter Tyler Sample (5-6) with just two outs in the inning. J.P. Ramirez provided the knockout blow with his first career grand slam. The Rocks' eighth loss in 11 games was also their eighth in their last nine clashes with Potomac.

Southpaw Sammy Solis (1-0) got the win for the P-Nats in his High-A debut. The sixth-ranked Washington prospect, according to Baseball America, allowed three runs over six innings. He struck out five and walked one. His counterpart, Sample, gave up 10 runs in just 1.2 frames. While only six of the tallies were earned, his ERA still rose from 4.33 to 4.98.

Potomac proved efficient in its damage against the Royals' third-round pick in 2008. The squad amassed just one hit in scoring two first-inning tallies thanks to an RBI groundout by Destin Hood and a sacrifice fly by Justin Bloxom. Just five hits went into the box score in the eight-run second. In addition to the grand slam by Ramirez, Hood doubled in two scores.

Relievers Brendan Lafferty and Edgar Garcia picked up the slack for Sample. Lafferty threw 72 pitches and allowed just one earned run over 3.2 innings of bridge relief. Garcia stranded two inherited runners and failed to allow a run while striking out three, all looking, over the last 2.2.

Wilmington rounded out its run scoring in the sixth. John Whittleman bombed his team-best 11th homer of the year with a pull shot to right. Jose Bonilla later pushed Stovall home with a groundout to shortstop.

The Blue Rocks' road trip shifts to Salem, VA and a three-game set against the Red Sox starting on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. Wilmington southpaw Justin Marks (4-5, 4.64) gets the start against right-hander Ryan Pressly (4-8, 4.52). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. as studio host Adam Dobrowolski 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:

Over his last 17 games, John Whittleman has gone 18-for-53 (.340) with 11 extra-base hits. That includes homers in each of his last three games. He is on pace to hit 18 home runs this season, something no Blue Rock has done since Mike Sweeney left the yard 18 times in 1995. Eight of Whittleman's homers have come away from the pitching-friendly confines of the Blue Rocks' Frawley Stadium.

Nick Van Stratten has hit in each of his first six games with this year's Blue Rocks. He has gone 10-for-22 (.455) with two stolen bases.

Ryan Stovall logged his first multi-hit game as a Blue Rock. The former NAIA All-American drove in a run and scored during his 2-for-4 night.

Potomac's Jeff Kobernus doubled twice, singled once and stole another bag. He swiped five in as many tries on the series, increasing his league-leading total to 34 on the year. The CL All-Star is 7-for-7 in theft tries against the Rocks on the year.

Potomac entered the series dead last in the CL with 39 homers. That included just four against the Rocks in 10 clashes. The P-Nats belted eight in the four-game set. With 47 homers, Potomac now ranks seventh in the loop, pacing Kinston (42), tied with Wilmington and one off Myrtle Beach's total.

Destin Hood drove in four runs in the game. He knocked in five in Saturday's series opener to amass nine in the four-game set.

Tyler Sample set two new season-high marks for the Blue Rocks. By lasting just 1.2 innings, his outing made for the shortest by a Wilmington starter this season, besting his 2.1-inning performance at Lynchburg on April 26. The 10 runs allowed are also a new season-worst for a Wilmington pitcher and the most allowed by any Blue Rock since at least 2005. Team records do not include a mark for most runs allowed in an outing by an individual pitcher.

Potomac's eight-run second inning is the biggest by a Wilmington opponent since Salem plated 10 in the second inning of an 11-3 rout at Frawley on May 5, 2010. Potomac reset the Rocks' season-high for runs allowed in an inning twice in the series. The P-Nats scored seven in the eighth during Saturday's series opener, a 14-1 final that made for the Rocks' biggest loss since 2005.

The Blue Rocks are back at .500 overall for the second time on the road trip. They had not sunk to sea level since they were 2-2 before the journey.

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