CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Puckett Powers Lynchburg Past Rocks

Published on August 29, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Lynchburg, VA - Cody Puckett delivered a walk-off single in the 10th inning as the Wilmington Blue Rocks (64-67, 32-29) lost their final road game of the regular season to the Lynchburg Hillcats (59-72, 30-31) at City Stadium on Sunday evening, 4-3. The Blue Rocks blew a pair of leads in the rubber match defeat as they went 3-3 on the road trip and finished 32-38 away from Frawley Stadium on the year. Elsewhere, Potomac lost a walk-off to Frederick when Pedro Florimon, Jr. was hit by a Joe Testa 1-2 pitch with the bases loaded, keeping the Blue Rocks 1.5 games out with one week to go on the 2010 campaign.

The rally started with an infield hit to shortstop by Miguel Rojas against reliever Kevin Chapman (1-1). Jordan Wideman laid down a sacrifice bunt to move him up before Brodie Greene got him over and reached on a batted ball errantly misplayed by Christian Colon at short. Defensive indifference allowed Greene to take second as the Blue Rocks brought the infield and outfield in. Puckett sent a hard grounder through the left-side hole, plating Rojas for the Hillcats' 16th win in 23 games.

Wilmington led 1-0 when hits by Colon and Wil Myers combined with a Chase Ware wild pitch in the opening inning. Shane Carlson tied it up by opening the home second with his third homer of the season off southpaw Will Smith.

In the fourth, Salvador Perez doubled in a go-ahead score before Eddie Prasch made it 3-1 on a sacrifice fly. A walk later, Ware departed on the hook. In 3.1 innings, the usual reliever allowed three runs on six hits and two walks while whiffing two.

Ware's successors would have much more success. Andrew Bowman, Jeff Jeffords and Abe Woody (2-0) combined to toss 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing a collective two hits and not one baserunner beyond second in that time.

Kyle Day drew the 'Cats within a run in the fifth with a solo homer, his seventh of the year. An inning later, consecutive two-out triples by Neftali Soto and Chris Richburg deadlocked the game, 3-3.

Smith matched his career-high for innings pitched at eight. He gave up three tallies on eight hits, walking none and striking out five. Chapman replaced him to start the ninth and retired all three men he faced until the 10th.

The Blue Rocks open their final homestand on Monday at 6:35 p.m. with the first of a four-game set against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Prospect righty Tim Melville (2-11, 5.04) will face former William Penn H.S. star Brett Oberholtzer (4-6, 4.80).

The night will include a tribute to the Rolling Stones on Strike Out Hunger in Delaware Night. As always, Monday games include free baseball bingo and the Mega Deal Monday offer allows fans to purchase four reserved tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for only $40. The offer is valid only by purchase at Blue Rocks ticket windows or by calling 302-888-BLUE.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Over his last 24 games, Salvador Perez has hit .380 (35-for-92), raising his batting average by 36 points (.244-.280) to his top contact clip since June 10.

The Blue Rocks fell to 6-5 in rubber matches. They have won just one series of three games or more in their last eight tries.

Wil Myers went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk, a strikeout and a groundball double play. The Carolina League's youngest player currently suffers through his first slump as a Blue Rock, notching four hits over his last 28 at-bats (.143).

Wilmington lost in walk-off fashion for the seventh time on the year and the first time since back-to-back such defeats at Myrtle Beach on July 20-21.

That July 21 game went 13 innings and was the Rocks' most recent extra-inning setback before Sunday night. The Blue Rocks' league-best record in one-run affairs dipped to 24-15. They boasted the loop's best winning percentage in free baseball at the start of the night, but fell to 8-5 in extras. They had won six of their prior seven such games.

Brian Rupp's club finished the season 12-8 against Lynchburg and 6-4 at City Stadium. They went 16-14 in divisional road games, not posting a losing road record against any road foes.

Cody Pucket loves hitting Blue Rocks pitching. After going 3-for-5 with the game-winning RBI on Sunday, he played in all 20 meetings between the teams. He hit .295 against the Rocks with 10 of his 23 hits going for extra bases, including six homers. He posted 15 RBIs against the Rocks and a .963 OPS.

The Blue Rocks stranded eight men on base and struggled to a 1-for-8 showing with runners in scoring position.

Christian Colon went 3-for-5 with his first professional stolen base in five tries and a run scored. He also committed the game's lone error, his 15th of the season in 54 games.

Will Smith has thrown a career-best eight innings six times, including each of his last two nods. In 47.2 innings with the Blue Rocks, the former Angels prospect has struck out 42 while walking just four for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 10.5:1.

Every game of the six-contest road trip came down to two runs or less. Three of the tilts required extra innings and two of the games saw a final differential of one run.

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Carolina League Stories from August 29, 2010


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