CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks End Nine-Game Slide

July 24, 2013 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE -On the brink of their 10th straight loss, the Wilmington Blue Rocks exploded for five first inning runs, while the Myrtle Beach bats were held silent, as the Blue Crew defeated the Birds 7-2 on Wednesday night at Frawley Stadium. Taking advantage of a struggling Victor Payano (5-6) the Rocks sent 10 men to bat in the initial frame, to give the club its first win in a week and a half. The victory improves Vance Wilson's club to 48-54 on the season and 15-17 in the second-half Northern Division standings.

Outscored 68-29 over its recent roadtrip, the Blue Rocks did not take long to buck the trend. Justin Trapp opened the game with a four-pitch walk, and stole second before Payano handed out a free pass to Jack Lopez. One batter later, Trapp would score on a double by Jorge Bonifacio, while Dennis Raben would bring home Lopez on a groundball to the right side. Ahead 2-0, the middle of the order would continue the hit parade. A single by Jared Schlehuber and a double by Yem Prades put a pair in scoring position for Daniel Mateo, who singled home one run, before a walk to Micah Gibbs ended Payano's night. Lasting just 0.1 of an inning, the left-hander threw 34 pitches, allowing five runs on four hits. Ethan Chapman would cap off the inning with a sacrifice fly to center off reliever Paul Schwendel to put an exclamation point on the inning.

Leading 5-1, the Blue Rocks added two insurance runs in the fourth. Following a single and a stolen base by Lopez, Bonifacio would reach on a swinging bunt that was airmailed by Schwendel. That scored Lopez from second, while an RBI single by Schlehuber extended the lead to a touchdown.

On the mound, Myrtle Beach was held to just two runs on six hits. Both came off Leonel Santiago (1-1) who allowed an RBI double to local-product Joe Maloney in the first and a run-scoring single to Jake Skole in the fifth. Out of the bullpen, Daniel Hernandez and Andrew Triggs collaborated on four innings of one-hit baseball.

Wilmington and Myrtle Beach will play game two on Thursday night at Frawley Stadium. Left-hander John Lamb (4-9, 6.58) takes the mound for the Blue Rocks, and will be opposed by righty Nick Martinez (8-6, 3.11). First pitch is slated for 7:15 p.m., and fans purchase tickets by calling 302-888-BLUE or bluerocks.com. The broadcast can be heard on 89.7 WGLS-FM

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

On Wednesday night, the Blue Crew closed the book on a season-worst nine game losing streak. It was the club's first victory since July 14, when Wilmington defeated Lynchburg in game one of a doubleheader. The win also ensured the Rocks would not tie a dubious milestone. A loss would have equaled the club's longest losing streak in franchise history. That feat had only occurred two other times, most recently from May 27-June 4, 2000. In addition, the Rocks victory snapped a four-game slide to the Pelicans, who swept Wilmington last week on the Grand Strand.

Leonel Santiago picked up his first Advanced-A win on Wednesday night. Limited to just three-plus innings in his Blue Rocks debut on July 19, the right-hander bounced back, tossing five innings of two-run baseball, while scattering five hits. It was Santiago's first win since July 4, when he was pitching for Low-A Lexington, and just his second since July 11, 2011. A native of the Dominican Republic, the righty missed all of 2012 on account of surgery on his right labrum. Prior to the injury, Santiago pitched for Low-A Kane County in 2011 and was a Midwest League All-Star.

Jorge Bonifacio moved his batting average back over .300 in game one against Myrtle Beach. Entering the game below .300 for the first time since early May, the 20-year-old went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI. It marked the 18th time in 2013 that Bonifacio had recorded two hits or more, but it was just the second time he had tallied three hits in a contest this season. He also posted three knocks on May 7 against Potomac. Since rejoining the Blue Rocks from the disabled list, Bonifacio is batting .270 with four doubles and seven RBIs.

Besides ending a nine-game losing streak, Wednesday also gave the Blue Crew a much needed win over a Carolina League Southern Division opponent. Hard to come by in 2013, it was the team's first win over a team from the south since June 22, when the Rocks defeated Salem 11-7. This year, Wilmington is 10 games under .500 against non-Northern Division clubs. When the Rocks have bested teams from the Southern Division though, it has often come at Frawley Stadium. In games against CL South foes on the Riverfront, the Blue Rocks are 14-11, but are just 11-24 away from the friendly confines.

Since joining the club from Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Yem Prades has been a big contributor offensively. Ending Wednesday 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, it gave Prades his third straight multi-hit effort. He last accomplished that feat from August 29-31 while playing for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. In seven games as a member of the Blue Rocks this year, he is batting .333 with two doubles and three runs batted in, while he is hitting .500 (6-for-12) over the course of his last three contests.

Daniel Hernandez held the Pelicans off balance for the second straight outing. After tossing 3.2 inning of scoreless baseball against Myrtle Beach on Saturday, the righty allowed just one hit over three frames on Wednesday night. That trimmed his ERA from 2.61 to 2.28, and extended his scoreless inning streak to 7.2 frames. Since a rocky outing on June 16 against Winston-Salem, Hernandez has scattered just three runs (two earned) over 16.2 second-half innings (1.08 ERA).

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