CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Franco's Homer Carries Rocks

Published on May 28, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Zebulon, NC - Angel Franco's first Carolina League home run snapped a 2-2 deadlock in the fourth inning for a lead his squad would not surrender as the Wilmington Blue Rocks (24-25) bested the Carolina Mudcats (22-27) on Memorial Day, 4-3. The Rocks' league-high 20th one-run game of the season is also their ninth win in 12 games.

In his first start since Apr. 26, Leondy Perez composed a quality start for his third win of the season. His own throwing error and a wild pitch combined with a run-scoring blow from Tyler Cannon to give the Mudcats a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The Rocks, however, would immediately respond.

Playing his first game in nearly a week, Luis Piterson started the rally with a just-fair double inside of third base. That would prove the first of four straight hits to begin the inning against Michael Goodnight. Geulin Betre and Brian Fletcher each singled in a score as the Blue Crew tied the game, 2-2.

An inning later, the hit barrage came with two away with Piterson once again at the helm. The nine-hole bat singled with two outs to right and came all the way around when Franco followed with his first home run as a Blue Rock. The two-run shot to right would round out the Rocks' scoring on the day, but solid pitching made it stand up.

Perez (3-1) allowed a solo homer to Tony Wolters in the fifth and no other damage thanks to a spectacular defensive play. After Wolters' homer, Carlos Moncrief singled and Jeremie Tice flied out. Giovanny Urshela then singled to left and Moncrief tied to score. The throw to second from Roman Hernandez bounced in the dirt and skipped off the covering Piterson's shoulder as Moncrief rounded third. Piterson recovered with his bare hand and an off-balance sidearm throw beat Moncrief to the plate. Catcher Kevin David caught it cleanly and absorbed a hard shoulder check from Moncrief for the final out of the inning.

Perez's new piggybacking partner, Greg Billo, then made his first relief appearance of the season and hurled 2.1 scoreless and hitless innings.

The former held true thanks to reliever Chase Boruff. Anthony Gallas worked a one-out walk in the ninth forcing manager Vance Wilson to bring Boruff into the game. After Justin Toole flied out to left, pinch runner Delvi Cid stole second to put the tying tally in scoring position. But after working the count full, Boruff struck out Tyler Cannon looking to bolt down his second save of the season.

The four-game series continues at 7:15 p.m. tomorrow night. The Blue Rocks' Opening Night starter, Tyler Sample (1-5, 5.32), gets the ball against fellow right-hander Danny Salazar (0-2, 4.26). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. as studio host Rob Szczepanik 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:

After struggling to score five runs over their three-game weekend set in Myrtle Beach, the Blue Rocks put four on the board on Monday and improved to 17-6 when plating at least that many runs. In congruent fashion, after going 3-for-28 (.107) with men in scoring position last series, the team matched the hit total with a 3-for-10 performance on Memorial Day.

The Mudcats have lost six in a row and 10 of their last 12.

Over his last seven appearances Chase Boruff has allowed just one run while notching both of his 2012 saves. During that time he has assembled a 0.82 ERA.

Angel Franco's first home run as a Blue Rock came in his 39th game and 133rd at-bat. He hit four last season with Low-A Kane County.

Two struggling hitters helped carry the Wilmington offense. Geulin Beltre was 3-for-38 over his prior 10 games before going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Luis Piterson was a .186 hitter on the season before he went 3-for-4 with a double, two stolen bases and two runs scored.

The Blue Rocks have made a miscue in a season-high six straight games. As a result, one of the runs tagged on the line of Leondy Perez was unearned.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 28, 2012


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