CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Climb out of Early Hole to Beat Frederick in Rain-Shortened Affair

Published on June 4, 2015 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


ZEBULON, NC - Despite an early five-run deficit, the Wilmington Blue Rocks were able to battle back and pick-up and important win over the Frederick Keys in a rain-shortened contest, 7-5. Starter Eric Skoglund did not have his best stuff as he gave up five runs in the first, but he battled through and let his offense do the rest as he gets his fourth win of the season. Frank Schwindel had three RBIs.

The big inning for Wilmington came in the bottom of the fifth, as they cut into what was a 5-2 Frederick lead. Starter David Hess gave up a single to Ramon Torres to start the frame, but he quickly got two outs on a strikeout and a pop out. With Torres still at first, Cody Stubbs extended the inning with a line drive into center moving Torres all the way to third. Frank Schwindel then stepped up and took a pay-off pitch from Hess and put it off the top of the wall in left. Schwindel would leg out a double, scoring two runs in the process and making it a 5-4 game. That ended Hess' day as he was replaced by Austin Urban. Urban was greeted rudely by Dex Kjerstad who yanked a ball over the wall in left for his second homer of the season, a two-run shot giving the Rocks their first lead of the game. Urban responded to the homer by plunking Jack Lopez in the ribs with a first-pitch fastball, and umpire Erich Bacchus responded by tossing Urban. Dylan Rheault came in and got out of the inning without throwing a pitch as he picked Lopez off of first to end the inning with the Rocks leading 6-5. They would add another run on a Rheault wild pitch with a runner at third to make it 7-5 in the sixth.

The Rocks cut into their five-run deficit in the third inning when Logan Moon and Cam Gallgher drew back-to-back walks off of Hess to start the inning. A fielder's choice groundout moved Gallagher up to third, and another fielder's choice groundout off the bat of Dominique Taylor would bring him home to make it 5-1. They made it just a three-run deficit in the fourth when Stubbs reached on a strikeout and a wild pitch and came all the way around to score on a Schwindel double, his first of the game, making it 5-2.

Skoglund's struggles started early, as in the first inning the Keys managed to pull ahead in a big way. Josh Hart led off the game with a bunt base hit up the first base line, the softest contact off a Keys' bat in the inning. Skoglund did not help his cause as, after getting Drew Dosch to line out hard for the first out of the inning, Skoglund walked Adrian Marin and hit Tucker Nathans with a pitch to load the bases. Chance Sisco sent a line drive into left field, plating Hart and making it a 1-0 lead. Skoglund was trying to get out of the frame with no further damage, but Brenden Webb would ensure that was not the case. Webb took a 2-0 fastball and deposited it over the right field wall for a grand slam, his fifth homerun of the season, extending the Keys' early lead to 5-0.

Estarlin Cordero replaced Skoglund in the seventh and got just one out, a strikeout of Logan Uxa, before the umpires decided it was time to pull the tarp. After a rain delay that last nearly an hour (58 minutes), the game was officially called a 7-5 Rocks win in 6.1 innings. Cordero backed his way into his third save of the season despite throwing just five pitches to one batter. The Rocks are now three games ahead of the Keys in the race for a first-half Carolina League Northern Division crown.

The Rocks and Keys are back in action on Friday and hoping the rain will not play a part the second time around. The Rocks send their opening day starter Jakob Junis to the mound. Junis has been up-and-down this season, currently holding a 2-4 record with a 4.05 ERA. He will square-off against Luis Gonzalez who has really struggled this year for the Keys. Gonzalez is 3-4 with a bloated 8.79 ERA for Frederick. First pitch from Frawley Stadium is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

With his single in the fifth, Cody Stubbs has now hit safely in all eight games he has played as a Blue Rock. Since joining the team on May 27 from extended Spring Training, Stubbs has gone 15-for-29 (.517) with six doubles, five runs scored, and three RBIs. Stubbs spent time in Wilmington last season, even leading the team in homeruns (10) in the hitter-unfriendly Frawley Stadium. Stubbs hit his first homer of 2015 in Carolina on June 1.

After being down 5-0 in the first, the Blue Rocks were able to mount their largest come-from-behind victory of the season as they won the rain-shortened affair by a 7-5 final. Previously, the Rocks biggest come-from-behind win came on April 18 against the very same team, the Frederick Keys. Frederick jumped ahead in that contest at Frawley Stadium 3-0 in the fourth, before the Rocks put two runs of their own on the board in the bottom of the inning and then took the lead in the sixth on RBI hits from Cam Gallagher and Robert Pehl. Frank Schwindel also had an RBI double in that game accounting for the second run for Wilmington, the first coming on an RBI single from Bubba Starling who now resides in Double-A.

After seeming a bit cold at the plate for a while, it appears as though Frank Schwindel is out of whatever slump he may have been mired in coming into the home stand. Despite the fact that he was coming in with a five-game hitting streak, he had only managed a single hit in all five of those games. Schwindel went 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs on Thursday. The two doubles extended Schwindel's league-lead in doubles, he now has 19. Schwindel is currently four doubles ahead of the second-place league-leaders. There are currently three men in the CL with 15 doubles. With his two hits, Schwindel has also extended his current hitting-streak to six games, making this the fourth time this season Schwindel has had a hitting-streak of at least six games. Schwindel currently holds the team lead in consecutive games hitting safely with nine, though Cody Stubbs is currently breathing down his neck with his eight-game streak.

The Rocks proved that an early five-run deficit was not too much for them, and with the win they also showed that they just love playing at Frawley Stadium. The Rocks are now 11 games over .500 (20-9) when playing in front of the Frawley Faithful. The offense has actually hit a higher clip when on the road (.263) compared to at home (.254), but the difference in the pitching has been noticeable. Rocks pitchers have looked very comfortable in big Frawley Stadium as they are currently posting a 2.34 ERA at home. On the road it has been a different story for Wilmington pitchers. Rocks hurlers are now posting a 3.74 ERA while giving up more than a hit per inning on the road. Despite ending their last road trip with two wins over Carolina, the Rocks are still just 10-14 away from Frawley.

THEY SAID IT:

Manager Brian Buchanan

"It was crazy, we got off to a rough start with (Eric) Skoglund, he just didn't have it there in the first inning and they got him but he settled down after that and pitched well to give us six innings and get the win."

"At this point (every game) is big, but to play the (team) behind in the standing and to beat them it is obviously a good win for us."

"The (team) has been coming back all year and we got good at bats. They are professionals, they know what they are doing and what they are supposed to do. I don't need to yell at them and say common lets go, they can figure it out."

"They had a good fifth inning and put some good at bats and kept picking away, picking away and then (Dexter) Kjerstad with a big home run and added one more, it is good to see them come back like that."

Right Fielder Dex Kjerstad"Off the bat I knew it was out of here. (That was one of the best balls that I hit,) I hit it hard and off the bat I knew for sure it was gone."

"We just kept battling (after falling behind early) and put some good swings on some balls and got ahead and it was a huge win for us especially against (Frederick.)"

First Baseman Frank Schwindel"I absolutely thought (the second double) was out of here but it is a tough place to hit and with the wind. I will take the double and it ended up being pretty big and (Dexter Kjerstad) came up next and showed me how it is done so I will take notes from him. (His hit) was a no doubter, it was impressive. It was the first or second pitch and he just crushed it so it was pretty cool."

"It was huge (coming back to win,) they hit us pretty hard in the first and we went down one two three but we didn't give up and had some good at bats. We scored our first run without getting a hit. Then we strung some good at bats together and it was a nice team effort."

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics



Carolina League Stories from June 4, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central