CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Offense Sputters As Rocks Fall

Published on August 13, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE- As the old saying goes, "You can't win them all." After outscoring the Winston-Salem Dash 16-2 over their pervious three games, the Wilmington Blue Rocks offense was virtually nonexistent in a 3-1 loss on Thursday night at Frawley Stadium. It was only the Rocks' second setback in 18 games, and it brought Wilmington's nine-game home winning streak to a close.

Winston-Salem started strong, plating single tallies in each of the first two frames off of Wilmington starter Alex Caldera. The right-hander was actually lucky to hold the Dash to just one in the first after allowing back-to-back lead-off singles. He nearly escaped the jam unscathed though, as Tyler Kuhn's 5-4-3 double play gave Caldera two outs with only a runner at third. But Brent Morel came through with an RBI double down the left-field line to put Winston-Salem on the board.

Then in the second, Caldera surrendered an inning-opening solo home run to catcher Logan Johnson. He would settle down from there however, recording 12 outs over the next 14 batters he faced.

Caldera (4-10) ran into trouble again in the sixth as he loaded the bases with two outs before giving way to reliever Zach Peterson. The right-hander entered the contest and immediately whiffed Sergio Morales to keep the deficit at two.

The Rocks tried to rally back late. They kicked up a threat in the seventh when Nick Van Stratten opened the frame with a single, and then moved to second on Paulo Orlando's sacrifice bunt. Ryan Eigsti followed with a line-drive single to right. Van Stratten was given the stop sign at third by manager Brian Rupp, but paid it little attention as he raced around the bag to come home. The run pulled Wilmington to within a single score.

Unfortunately for the Rocks, Winston-Salem had an answer in the bottom of the eighth as the Dash added another run off of Peterson. Tyler Kuhn opened the inning with a fly ball to center field which Wilmington outfielder Derrick Robinson misjudged, failed to catch and let the resulting bounce get by him. The miscue allowed Kuhn to race his way to third for a lead-off triple. He then scored two batters later on a wild pitch from Peterson.

The momentum switch seemed to doom Wilmington, as the Rocks would manage just one runner the rest of the way

Winston-Salem starter Anthony Carter got his league-leading 11th win. Carter (11-4) surrendered only four hits in six scoreless innings. He also fanned nine and walked only one. Dash reliever Nathan Jones followed Carter, and although he allowed Wilmington's lone run, he did manage to keep Winston-Salem in front.

Hector Santiago kept the Rocks off the board in the eighth, and Santo Luis struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his ninth save in 16 tries.

The Rocks return to action on Friday at 7:05 p.m. as they open a pivotal three-game series with the Potomac Nationals. Second year Blue Crewer Mario Santiago (6-11, 4.13) will get the start for Wilmington, while the P-Nats are slated to counter with left-hander Tom Milone (8-4, 3.32)

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The win snapped Wilmington's six-game winning streak against the Dash. It was also the last regular season meeting between the two teams in 2009, with the Rocks taking the season-series, 11-8.

Derrick Robinson stole two more bags for Wilmington on Thursday. The center fielder upped his league-leading theft total to 56. That is just six shy of his own franchise record, which Robinson set last season.

In nine of Alex Caldera's 10 losses the Rocks have failed two score more than two runs. Six of those times the Blue Crew have been shutout.

Mike Moustakas finished the night 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. It marked only the second time Wilmington's everyday third baseman has fanned three times in a game while wearing a Blue Rocks uniform. The only other occasion came on May 8, on the road against the Frederick Keys.

The heart of Wilmington's order, Moustakas, Clint Robinson and Eric Hosmer, went a collective 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts in Thursday's loss.

The only good news for the Rocks on Thursday came from Woodbridge, VA, where the Potomac Nationals lost a rain-shortened game to the Frederick Keys, 8-4. The game was called due to wet weather after the fifth inning. That means Wilmington will open its three-game weekend set with Potomac at Frawley Stadium holding a 2.5-game lead over the P-Nats in the race for a Carolina League North second half crown.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 13, 2009


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