CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Frederick's Late Rally Sinks Wilmington in Series Finale

Published on August 3, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Frederick Keys scored three times in the eighth inning off of Andrew Edwards to come from behind and beat the Wilmington Blue Rocks, 5-4, on Sunday evening at Frawley Stadium. Wilmington now sits at 20-21 in the second half and 53-56 overall. The Rocks are tied with the Lynchburg Hillcats for second place in the CL North, three games behind the first-place Potomac Nationals.

Jerome Pena and John Ruettiger set up Frederick's three-run eighth-inning rally with back-to-back singles off of Edwards . Adrian Marin then ripped a double to left, just inside the third-base bag. That plated Pena and sent Ruettiger to third. After Trey Mancini struck out swinging, manager Darryl Kennedy lifted Edwards for closer Kyle Bartsch. Chih-Hsien Chang greeted him by rolling a week grounder to second, scoring Ruettiger and moving Marin to third. Marin scored on a wild pitch from Bartsch. All three runs were charged to Edwards.

The Blue Rocks had held a 4-2 lead since they scored four times in the fifth inning. Daniel Rockett led off the frame by reaching on an error by third-baseman Jason Esposito and advanced to second on a one-out single by Terrance Gore. Jack Lopez then walked the bases loaded for Ramon Torres. The switch-hitting second baseman rolled one through the legs of first baseman Trey Mancini, who was also charged with an error. Two runs scored on the play to draw the Blue Crew even with the Keys. Lopez also moved to third. Michael Antonio plated the third run of the inning for Wilmington on a sacrifice fly while Zane Evans was responsible for driving in the final run with an RBI single to left.

Frederick scored first, with single tallies in the first and second off of Glenn Sparkman. Ruettiger reached on a throwing error by Lopez to lead off the game. He moved to third on a flyout by Marin and scored on a sacrifice fly from Mancini. In the second, three consecutive singles from Brenden Webb, Tucker Nathans and Wynston Sawyer extended the Keys' advantage to 2-0.

Brady Wager (6-8, 5.85) picked up the win for Frederick while Edwards (0-2, 16.88) took the loss for Wilmington.

The Rocks have a scheduled off day on Monday and they return to action on Tuesday at Frawley Stadium, when they open up a three-game series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Southpaw Jonathan Dziedzic (5-5, 2.48) is scheduled to take the mound for Wilmington in the opener. 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:

Glenn Sparkman was excellent again for Wilmington on Sunday, tossing five strong innings. The right-hander was tremendous throughout and yielded just two runs (one earned) on four hits while fanning five. Sparkman did not walk a batter and took a no-decision. On the season, Sparkman is 6-2 with a sparkling 1.46 ERA, which places him atop the Carolina League leaderboard. The 6-foot-2 hurler has given up 71 hits and 17 walks while striking out 86 in 92.1 innings pitched. Righties are batting just .226 against Sparkman while lefties are hitting a mere .191 against him. Sparkman began the campaign in the bullpen and was excellent there. He went 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA in 11 relief appearances while striking out 27 and walking seven in 23.2 innings pitched. After getting shifted to the starting rotation, Sparkman has been even better. As a starter, he is 4-1 with a 1.18 ERA in 13 outings. He has punched out 59 and issued 10 bases on balls in 68.2 innings pitched as a starter.

Zane Evans stayed hot on Sunday, blooping an RBI single to left in the fifth inning. It was responsible for Wilmington's fourth and final run of the frame. The right-handed hitting backstop finished the evening 1-for-4 at the plate. 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 five consecutive contests. During that stretch, he is batting a combined .350 (7-for-20). In the month of August, Evans is now hitting .308 (4-for-13) with a run, a homer and three RBIs. Overall this year, Evans is hitting .231 with 27 runs, 18 doubles, three homers and 27 RBIs.

Sunday's loss to Frederick was just the third of the season for the Blue Rocks when leading at the end of seven innings. Wilmington is now 40-3 when they take an advantage into the eighth. Conversely, when they trail at the end of the eighth frame, the Blue Crew is just 8-44 on the campaign. The Rocks' success when leading late is in large part due to the ballclub's outstanding bullpen. Prior to his promotion to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Mark Peterson was 1-2 with a 1.31 ERA in 33 appearances. He nailed down 22 of his 24 save tries this year. His replacement in the closer's role, Kyle Bartsch, has also been excellent in 2014. He is 5-5 with a 2.74 ERA in 32 appearances. Bartsch is 2-for-3 in save opportunities and was charged with a tough-luck blown save on Sunday. He entered the contest with runners at second and third base and one away. Despite the fact that Bartsch allowed no baserunners, both inherited runners scored thanks to an RBI groundout to second and a wild pitch. Collectively, the Wilmington 'pen has posted a 26-20 record to go along with a 2.99 ERA in 373.1 innings pitched. Blue Crew relievers have given up 319 hits, fanned 336 and walked just 109.

Wilmington's struggles with runners on base and in scoring position reared their head again in Sunday's 5-4 loss against the Frederick Keys. The Blue Rocks stranded a total of seven runners on base, including three in scoring position. The Rocks also finished the night 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. During the three-game series against the Keys, Wilmington left 23 runners on base and went 5-for-26 (.192) with runners in scoring position. On the campaign, the Blue Rocks have now stranded 725 total runners on base. Wilmington's opponents have left just 642 runners on base. They have batted a combined .222 (209-for-942) with runners in scoring position on the season.

THEY SAID IT:

Manager Darryl Kennedy:

"I think we looked at what [Glenn Sparkman] was doing in the bullpen [when deciding to put him in the rotation]. He was throwing all of his pitches for strikes. His arm works good, he's effortless out there, it's not a taxing delivery. We wanted to see what [him starting] would look like and it's turned out very good. He's a great pick for the 20th round. He's got that low arm slot that, a lot of times, is tough for hitters to lay off and he throws just enough up in the zone that he gets the swings. His breaking stuff has gotten better since he became a starter. Out of the bullpen he was more fastball-slider, now he's added his curveball back that he threw in college. It's been big for him. He was a starter in college and we knew he through a curveball. Once we put him back in the rotation we got the curveball going again."

"The eighth inning killed us. You've got to give them credit; they got three big hits and put us in a tough situation. We got a big strikeout for the first one and then got a ground ball for the second one and then that wild pitch just got past [Cam] Gallagher who usually blocks them all the time. It was a tough pitch. It was 0-2 and we were trying to bury it and just didn't catch a break there."

"I don't think [Andrew Edwards was tired] because that [long relief] was his role down there in Lexington. He was a starter to begin the year and then moved to more of a 3-4 inning guy, so I don't think he was tired I just think they put some good swings on him."

"For the last month and a half we've been on the bus more than we've been at stadiums it seems like. A lot of three game stints and out. I'm really looking forward to this August. Especially with the off days, it's gives these guys a little rest as well and hopefully that plays to our advantage."

"[In the fifth inning], We got some breaks on some hits there. We didn't crush the ball but we found some holes and battled right back and it gave us a chance to win the ballgame."

Starting Pitcher Glenn Sparkman:

"I think [moving to the rotation] really affected me because I can get a lot more work on my pitches. Out of the 'pen you just go out there and throw. You already know what your pitches do but you get more work at it as a starter."

"My fastball wasn't really there for me but my off-speed was really helping me out today. I got a lot of groundouts and flyouts."

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Carolina League Stories from August 3, 2014


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