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Wilmington Blue Rocks

Ridings and Rogers Shut out Salem

August 12, 2012 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - He received less than 24 hours notice that he would be starting on Sunday afternoon. No matter for Matt Ridings, as he led the Wilmington Blue Rocks (53-65, 24-24) to a sweep of the Salem Red Sox (59-59, 18-31) with a 5-0 final at Frawley Stadium.

Ridings (5-1) had his best start as a pro. He tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits while fanning three Sox batters. The seven frames mark a career-high in his two years as a pro ballplayer.

The Rocks took the lead in the fourth inning and rolled to a win. With one out, Lane Adams started the rally against Salem starter Michael McCarthy with a walk. Matt Fields lofted a deep fly ball into the right field corner for a double that scored Adams from first for a 1-0 lead.

An inning later, Murray Watts led off the frame and smoked a ball to the right of the batter's eye in center field for a solo homer and a 2-0 edge.

They put the game to bed in the seventh. With one out, Jose Bonilla worked a full-count walk. Luis Piterson then blooped a double down the left field to bring home Bonilla to make it 3-0. With two outs, Brett Eibner got aboard with a walk. Adams then bounced a ball through the left side for a 4-0 advantage. Fields then hopped a ball to third that was not handled by James Kang at third. It allowed Eibner to get home from third to cap the scoring at 5-0.

McCarthy pitched rather well in his Advanced-A debut, tossing 5.1 innings of two-run ball on six hits and two walks to go along with five strikeouts.

The Rocks head to Potomac in the morning for a three-game set with the Nationals starting on Monday at 7:05 p.m. Wilmington will start RHP Brooks Pounders (4-4, 5.43) while the P-Nats have tabbed RHP Nate Karns (8-3, 2.06). Broadcast coverage begins at 1:05 p.m. as studio host Rob Cunningham 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:

For the third game in a row, the Rocks three-hole hitter Lane Adams had a good day. On Sunday, he went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. The No. 3 spot in the lineup this season has gotten little production this year outside of the numbers of the since-promoted prospect Brian Fletcher. Three-hole hitters other than Fletcher have an average of .214 (77-for-359) with 66 strikeouts.

With today's win and Frederick's outcome to be determined against Myrtle Beach, the Blue Rocks have pulled a half game ahead of the defending CL champion Keys. Wilmington, Frederick and Potomac are all within 2.5 games of each other for the division's second-half playoff spot. The four-time Carolina League champion Blue Rocks are attempting to make their first playoff appearance since pacing the loop with 84 wins in 2009.

The Blue Rocks finished a 15 game stretch against Southern Division squads with a 7-8 mark. They own a 28-48 (.368) record in interdivisional play. That is in stark contrast to their 25-17 (.595) mark in intradivisional competition. Now, Wilmington's starts a run that includes 18 of their last 22 games against their brothers from the North.

Matt Ridings tossed his most innings as pro pitcher on Sunday with seven shutout frames. His prior career-best was two starts ago, when he tossed 6.1 innings at Winston-Salem, his first win as a Blue Rocks starter.

For three consecutive days, Blue Rocks starters threw 7.0 innings; Jason Adam on Friday, Andy Ferguson on Saturday and Ridings on Sunday. It has only been done 18 times in total by Rocks pitchers. This weekend sweep of Salem represents nearly 17 percent of those outings.

With their 11 th win against Salem this season, the Rocks finished the year with a winning mark (11-9) against the Red Sox for the year. The Rocks have now won at least 11 head-to-head matchups against the Red Sox in five of their last six seasons.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks tossed their eighth team shutout of the season on Sunday. They had not thrown one since Chase Boruff and Edwin Carl combined for the feat on June 29 vs. Lynchburg. The Blue Rocks rank sixth in the circuit in team blanking, while being shut out the most teams in the league with 13.

Earlier today, outfielder Chris Elder was sent to Low-A Kane County by the Kansas City Royals. In four games with the Blue Crew, he hit .231 (4-for-13) with a triple and three RBIs. In a corresponding move, former Blue Rock Nick Van Stratten joins the team for his third tour of duty from Double-A Northwest Arkansas. An outfielder with the 2009 and 2011 Blue Crew, Van Stratten hit .284/.324/.358 over 44 games with the Nats. In 103 career games with Wilmington, he has a triple slash of .277/.341/.372.

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