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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Earn Doubleheader and Series Sweep of the Keys

July 23, 2018 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Frederick, MD - Wilmington Blue Rock's (50-50 / 19-11) starter Nolan Watson turned in the first complete-game shutout by a Blue Rock's pitcher in over a year to highlight a doubleheader sweep against the Frederick Keys (45-57 / 10-22) Monday afternoon at Nymeo Field. Watson tossed seven scoreless innings and allowed just two hits in an 8-0 win for the Blue Rocks in the first game before the Rocks held on to a thrilling, 7-6 victory in the second game of the twin bill to earn the series sweep. The Blue Rocks finished their seven-game road trip with an impressive 6-1 record.

Game One

The Blue Rocks turned in a dominant performance in the first game of the doubleheader, which was led by Watson, who fired a complete-game, two-hit shutout while the Rocks scored in four different innings, including a five-run outburst in the seventh. Watson set the tone early and retired the first six batters he faced while Wilmington got on the board in the top of the second inning. The Blue Rocks loaded the bases in the frame after Emmanuel Rivera reached on an error, Meibrys Viloria and Travis Jones each singled before Vance Vizcaino lofted an RBI sacrifice fly to plate Rivera to make it a 1-0 game.

Wilmington tacked on another run in the third inning on a two-out RBI single from Viloria to score Brewer Hicklen to double the lead, 2-0. In the fifth inning, Rivera laced a single to left field to plate Blake Perkins to push the Rocks lead to 3-0. While the offense provided the run support, Watson continued to keep the Keys off the board and the righty carried a no-hitter through 5.2 innings before Cole Billngsley singled to left to break up the no-hit bid before rain swept through the area and caused a 22-minute rain delay. Watson came back out after the delay and recorded the final out of the inning.

The Rocks' offense broke the game open in the top of the seventh inning and used a pair of home runs to give Watson more than enough cushion. With a pair of runners on, Gabriel Cancel smacked a three-run home run to make it a 6-0 game before Viloria hit a two-run homer two batters later to put the Blue Crew out in front, 8-0. Watson allowed just a hit in the bottom of the seventh and recorded the complete-game, shutout win while not allowing a runner to reach second base in the dominating effort.

Game Two

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Blue Rocks used late-inning scoring and an escape act in the final frame to take the lead and hold on to the eventual 7-6 win. Tied at four runs apiece in the sixth with two outs and runners at second and third base, Nate Espostio reached on an infield single to plate both Meibrys Viloria and Brewer Hicklen who each singled earlier in the inning to put the Rocks out in front, 6-4. Frederick inched closer in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run from Daniel Farjardo to make it a 6-5 ballgame.

In the seventh, D.J. Burt stole second base and came around to score on a throwing error to give the Rocks a vital insurance run, 7-5. The Keys would not go down quietly and loaded the bases against reliever Julio Pinto in the bottom of the seventh. However, Pinto allowed just a sacrifice fly off the bat of T.J. Nichting to make it a 7-6 contest before inducing a groundout to strand the tying and winning-runs on base to earn his seventh save of the season.

The Blue Rocks wasted no time getting on the board and used a four-run second inning to jump out in front. With runners at the corners and one out, Esposito singled home Travis Jones from third base to make it a 1-0 game. Angelo Castellano followed with an RBI single of his own to center field to plate Rudy Martin to double the lead, 2-0. Two batters later, Burt laced a single to centerfield to score both Esposito and Castellano to extend the Wilmington lead, 4-0.

Frederick answered in the bottom of the third inning with a four-run outburst. After a pair of walks and a single to start the inning, Chris Clare singled to left to get the Keys on the board, 4-1. Cole Billingsley drew a bases loaded walk to cut the Blue Rocks' deficit in half, 4-2 before Randolph Gassaway smacked an RBI single to pull Frederick within a run. Preston Palmeiro followed with a bloop, RBI single into shallow center field to tie the game at 4-4.

The Blue Rocks return home to start a six-game homestand and host the Salem Red Sox on Tuesday, July 24 for a three-game series starting at 6:35 p.m. Righty Andres Sotillet (1-1, 3.09 ERA) will make the start for Wilmington while Salem will counter with lefty Darwinzon Hernandez (7-5, 3.90). Fans can listen to the game as Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh will have the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

With Nolan Watson's complete game shutout, it marked the second complete game the righty has tossed this season and first with Wilmington. Watson also spun a nine-inning, complete game victory on June 15 against the Rome Braves when Watson was with Low-A Lexington. His outing on Monday also marked the first complete-game shutout tossed by a Wilmington starter since July 2, 2017 when Scott Blewett tossed a nine-inning, complete game shutout at Frawley Stadium against Salem.

The Blue Rocks continue their winning ways and posted an impressive 6-1 record on the road trip. Wilmington started the trek winning three of four at Lynchburg before sweeping the Keys in the three-game set. Wilmington has now won four straight road games and have won 11 of their last 15 road contests. With the pair of wins in the doubleheader on Monday, the Blue Crew have improved to 13-5 away from Frawley Stadium in the second half after going 13-22 on the road in the first half.

Gabriel Cancel has yet to slow down at the plate and had a big first game in the twin bill going 2-for-3, with a three-run home run to push his season total to a team-leading eight on the season. He also has 63 RBI on the season which also leads the team and is third in the Carolina League. Over his last 38 games, the infielder has driven in 43 runs, including 23 in the month of July. Meibrys Viloria also hit a home run in the first game of the doubleheader for his fifth of the year. Nate Esposito and D.J. Burt provided most of the offense in the second game driving in a combined five runs.

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