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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Drop Three of Four from P-Nats

July 28, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The first and last innings belonged to the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Thursday afternoon at Frawley Stadium. The problem for the Blue Crew was that everything else in between was owned by the Potomac Nationals, who beat Wilmington 7-5. The setback was Wilmington's 12th in its last 14 games and it dropped the Rocks nine games behind Potomac in the race for a postseason berth.

The Rocks took a 2-0 first-inning lead thanks to three straight one out hits. Carlo Testa tripled to right-center and then scored on Nick Van Stratten's hustle double to the left-center alley. That was followed by John Whittleman's slicing RBI liner to left.

Potomac responded in the very next half inning. Wilmington starter Justin Marks (5-8) yielded three runs in the frame despite inducing a niftily turned 5-4-3 double play. Eury Perez plated the first tally when he legged out a two-out bunt up the first-base line. Francisco Soriano then put Potomac on top with a tomahawked two-run dinger to left.

The P-Nats used the long ball to add to their advantage in the seventh when Cutter Dykstra sent a solo shot that snuck just inside the left-field foul pole.

Bryan Paukovits entered out of the bullpen in the eighth and let Potomac tack on some critical insurance runs. He surrendered a two-run double to Steven Souza in his first frame of relief, and then yielded an RBI double to Destin Hood in the ninth.

Those scores made Wilmington's three-run flurry in the ninth inconsequential. Nevertheless the Rocks showed some heart by kicking up a rally. Whittleman walked to open the frame and Tim Ferguson followed with a single two outs later. That set up Julio Rodriguez who took Neil Holland over the left-field fence for a three-run dinger. Rob Wort replaced Holland however and retired Gerard Hall to end the game and pick up is third save.

Having dropped three of four to the P-Nats, Wilmington hopes to have better success as it welcomes the Kinston Indians to town for a three-game set at Frawley Stadium. The series opens on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Tim Melville (7-6, 4.18) takes the hill for the Blue Crew against Kinston right-hander Steven Wright (1-2, 4.46). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. as studio host Adam Dobrowolski brings fans the Rocks Report Pre-game Show, presented by Wawa, on 89.7 WGLS-FM and online at wgls.rowan.edu. For tickets call 302-888-BLUE or visit bluerocks.com.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The silver lining for Wilmington was a clean defensive game on Thursday afternoon. Wilmington entered the contest having made an error in 18 of its previous 20 games, but the Blue Crew were stellar in the field. The Rocks robbed Potomac of two hits courtesy of diving grabs by Tim Ferguson and Carlo Testa.

Whit Merrifield extended his hitting streak to 10 games in the losing cause. The centerfielder went 1-for-4 and is hitting .310 (13-for-42) during the streak.

Carlo Testa continued to impress offensively at Frawley Stadium. The right fielder tripled and scored in the opening frame. Testa moved his average to .317 on the year at home, 97 points higher than his contact clip on the road. He also has hits in 12 of his last 13 games, hitting .327 (18-for-55) over that stretch.

Despite entering the game in a 5-for-35 funk at the plate, John Whittlemanfound a way to reach twice on Thursday. The third baseman had an RBI single in the first and added a walk that sparked a three-run rally in the ninth.

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