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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Pitching Carries Rocks to 3-1 Series Opening Victory

May 27, 2016 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Myrtle Beach, S.C. - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (15-31) used three pitchers on Friday night against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (26-21) and all three exhibited their best stuff as the Rocks took the first game of the series 3-1. Josh Staumont started and set the tone before giving way to Derek Gordon and Luis Rico as the three-headed monster held the Pelicans to just one run on three hits to propel the Blue Crew to victory.

Before Staumont even had a chance to toe the rubber, the Blue and White provided him with some run support. Cody Jones led off the game and was hit by a pitch to get things rolling. That is when the Rocks went to small ball. Humberto Arteaga dropped down a sacrifice bunt and Jones proceeded to steal third to set up Alfredro Escalera. Escalera stayed within himself and was able to inside out a pitch to first with the infield back grounding out, but plating Jones from third with the first run of the game.

After a scoreless bottom of the first from Staumont, the boys from Frawley went right back at it, once again scratching across a run. Austin Bailey singled with one down Elier Hernandez followed with a one-bagger of his own to push Bailey to second. Even though Robert Pehl was called out on strikes, Luis Villegas strolled to the plate with two outs and found a hole between first and second for the two-out RBI single and a 2-0 Rocks advantage. That lead expanded two innings later when the Blue Crew took advantage of a miscue on a pickoff attempt. Bailey singled to begin the frame and after a flyout by Hernandez, Jake Stinnett, the starter for the Pelicans, attempted to pick off Bailey, but the throw got away and Bailey moved up to second base. That allowed Bailey to score when Pehl singled up the middle for a 3-0 tally.

After firing five scoreless frames, Staumont came back out in the sixth, but walked the first two batters and was replaced by Gordon. Gordon did allow one of the two inherited runners to score, but limited the damage to just the one run and the Rocks led 3-1 after six innings. Gordon then came back out in the seventh inning and had relatively no problems, working around a leadoff bunt single. He turned the ball over to Rico and the lefty used a lineout double play in the eighth to quiet the Pelicans in the frame. He came back out in the ninth and issued another leadoff walk before striking out the next two batters and getting a flyout to center to close out the 3-1 series opening win.

Staumont picks up his first win of the year and moves to 1-4 while Stinnett goes with the inverse, getting saddled with his first loss of the year and dropping to 4-1. Rico gets his first save in just his second appearance of the year while Gordon worked two scoreless frames for the hold. Game two on Saturday will start at 5:05 with the Rocks' LHP Foster Griffin (0-2, 2.38) going up against RHP Jon Martinez (3-2, 3.35) for the Pellies. Those interested in listening to the game can tune in to WGLS-FM 89.7 or go to BlueRocks.com for all the game action.

Pebbles of Knowledge

Josh Staumont bounced back after a pair of rough starts. The hard-tossing righty went five innings for his first win of the season and moves to 1-4 on the year. It was the Californian's first win since September 5, 2015 when he picked up a victory with 2.2 innings of relief against the Orem Owlz while with the Idaho Falls Chukars. It was not all pretty for Staumont as he still struggled with command. He walked five on the evening and has now issued a Carolina League high 37 free passes this year, including 18 in his last three starts.

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are the only team in the Carolina League that Wilmington has a winning record against. The Blue Crew are 4-1 this season against the Pellies, taking three of four at Frawley Stadium a couple of weeks back before taking the series opener down in Myrtle Beach on Friday night. TicketReturn.com field is also the only ballpark where the Rocks are above .500 on the year, currently sitting at 1-0. The boys from Frawley are batting .248 against the Pelicans this year, which is 12 points higher than their season average, but it is the pitching that is carrying the day. In five games against the South Carolina team, the Rocks pitching staff is sporting a nifty 1.88 ERA compared to their season mark of 4.48. They have also shut out the Pellies twice in their four wins as the staff is mowing down opposing batters, fanning 44 in 43 innings of work.

Austin Bailey continues to produce and get on base for the Rocks. He reached base twice on Friday night and scored a pair of runs. The switch-hitter has been at his best when stepping in to the left-handed batters box. The infielder is thriving against right-handed pitching to the tune of a .282 batting average compared to just .125 when lefties are on the mound. When batting left-handed he has scored 13 runs and collected five two-baggers while driving in ten.

When Luis Rico pitches good things happen for the Blue Crew. In two outings sine coming off of the disabled list last week, Rico has earned a win and now a save after firing two scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth on Friday night. The victory for Rico came on May 22 at home against Carolina when he went 2.1 scoreless innings and picked up four strikeouts. Rico has now allowed just one hit in 4.1 innings while striking out six and walking three. The bullpen as a whole has been impressive. On Friday, Gordon and Rico combined for four innings of shutout baseball while over the roadtrip they have allowed just five earned runs (six total) in 16 innings for a 2.81 ERA.

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