CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Late Rally Propels Rocks to Win

Published on May 22, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - A night after their first blowout in a while, the Wilmington Blue Rocks (21-23) got back to their more recent ways of winning tight ballgames as they slipped by the Potomac Nationals (18-24) 4-2 on Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium.

The Blue Rocks big rally came in the eighth inning. Down 2-1 to the Nats, Potomac reliever Rob Wort walked the leadoff man in Brian Fletcher. With one out, Cheslor Cuthbert rolled a slow grounder through the right side for a basehit that sent Fletcher to third. Nationals manager Brian Rupp decided to take out Wort and brought in Cameron Selik to get them out of trouble. Roman Hernandez had other ideas as he banged a ground rule double into the P-Nats bullpen in left field that scored Fletcher to tie the game, as Cuthbert scampered to third. With the infield drawn in, Alex McClure poked a roller up the middle for a single that brought in Cuthbert and Hernandez for a 4-2 Blue Rocks lead.

The Nationals took the lead in the seventh. Tied 1-1, a leadoff double by Justin Bloxom to the left field gap off Rocks reliever Chase Boruff put the go ahead run in scoring position. A broken bat single by Kevin Keyes brought home the go ahead run in Bloxom, making it 2-1 Nationals.

Wilmington starter Yordano Ventura yielded his lone run in the fifth inning. With a man on and one out, Keyes decided to take off for second base and did so after a hesitant throw by Blue Rocks catcher Juan Graterol. A long at bat with Blake Kelso followed and the Potomac third baseman finally flared a bloop basehit to right which scored Keyes to tie the game at one.

With two outs in the third, the Rocks drew first blood. Whit Merrifield got aboard thanks to a walk from Potomac starter Robbie Ray. Merrifield swiped second base thereafter to get in scoring position for Geulin Beltre. Beltre then deposited a pitch into left center field which brought home Merrifield for a 1-0 Rocks lead.

Ventura had some long innings but pitched an effective five innings of one-run ball. He yielded just three hits and a walk, but struck out nine Nats.

Ray was just as good for Potomac. He went 5.2 innings surrendering just one run on five hits, allowing two walks and striking out eight.

After clinching the series in the first two games, the Blue Rocks look to sweep the three-game set with the Potomac Nationals, as the finale is slated for an 11:05 a.m. start on Wednesday. Wilmington right-hander Tyler Sample (0-5, 6.00) will meet up with Nationals lefty Matt Grace (2-5, 7.34). Broadcast coverage begins at 10:35 a.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:

With the win on Tuesday, the Blue Rocks have clinched their second straight series. They had not won two straight series since May 20-25, 2011, when they swept Myrtle Beach in a three-game set and took two of three from Frederick.

This is also the Blue Rocks first home win streak of three in a row. They had not done it since they swept the final weekend series against Frederick last year from September 3-5.

The Blue Rocks notched another come-from-behind win on Tuesday, their 12 th of the season. 57% of their wins have come in games where they have trailed.

With the victory, the Blue Rocks improved their record to 3-8 when facing left-handed starters. They are a bit above sea level at 19-18 when facing right-handed starters.

The Rocks go for the sweep on Wednesday. They have struggled in sunshine-filled ball games with a 1-5 record, but won their most recent one in Sunday's walkoff against Myrtle Beach.

Roman Hernandez finally busted out of extra-base hit drought. He had gone 24 games without an extra-base hit until he whacked a double in the ninth inning which tied the game at two.

Geulin Beltre broke out of a big hitting slump on Tuesday. After going hitless in his last 24 at bats, the Rocks right fielder roped an RBI single in the third inning which gave Wilmington a 1-0 lead at the time.

With wins in six of their last seven games, the Blue Rocks stand 4.0 games back of first-place Lynchburg in the Northern Division. 2.0 games back of the Blue Crew stands today's foe, Potomac. This marks the penultimate series against divisional competition for the Blue Crew. Once Wednesdays' game concludes, 22 of Wilmington's 25 remaining games this half will pit it against Southern Division squads. Entering today, the North has a composite record of 75-90 (.455) while the South stands at 90-75 (.545). Three of the four teams in the North have a losing record compared all winning records in the South.

For the 15th time this season, Jansen Visconti and Rich Gonzalez combined to umpire a game involving the Rocks, which accounts for 34% of Wilmington's games on the year.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 22, 2012


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