CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Finally Find Key to Beating Frederick

Published on May 24, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - Tim Melville turned in another solid start and the Wilmington offense took advantage of four Frederick errors as the Blue Rocks topped the Keys, 3-1, on Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium. It was Wilmington's first win in six tries against Frederick in 2011.

Melville (5-4) threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 23 batters he faced, including 12 of the game's first 13. That command allowed him to pitch around a few mistakes. The right-hander yielded three extra-base hits, but also stranded three runners in scoring position during his 5.2 frames of work. Melville allowed only a fourth-inning score on Jacob Julius' RBI double. After that, he set down six straight before walking his last batter of the game with two outs and nobody on in the sixth.

Bryan Paukovits replaced Melville and got some help from catcher Jose Bonilla who gunned down an attempted steal of second to end the inning. Paukovits then retired all nine batters he faced over the final three innings to earn his first save of the season.

The Blue Crew offense was opportunistic enough to put single tallies on the board in three different frames. Wilmington started the contest in style, getting a score in the first courtesy of a run-scoring single by Rey Navarro that gave Wilmington a 1-0 advantage.

After Frederick tied the game in the top of the fourth, the Rocks had a response in the home-half of the frame, using two Frederick errors to score an unearned run. Steven Caseres reached on an error by shortstop Garabez Rosa and then moved into scoring position on a dropped fly ball by Julius in right. Alex McClure made the Keys pay with a seeing-eye single into center that put the Blue Crew in front, 2-1.

Wilmington added an insurance tally in the fifth during an inning when Frederick committed two more defensive miscues. Navarro drove in his second score of the night when he plated Carlo Testa from second with a single to right-center.

Frederick starter Ryan O'Shea took the tough-luck loss. O'Shea (3-3) allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits while fanning four in seven solid innings pitched.

Wilmington hosts the Keys again on Wednesday in the rubber match of this three-game set, with a special game-time of 11:05 a.m. Piggyback partners Tyler Sample (2-3, 2.45) and Justin Marks (2-2, 5.82) hit the hill for Wilmington against Frederick right-hander Oliver Drake (2-2, 2.60). Broadcast coverage begins at 10:35 a.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:

Carlo Testa continues to excel in the two-spot of manager Brian Rupp's batting order. Testa had two more hits on Tuesday and has now gone 10-for-20 with four extra-base knocks and six RBIs in the first five games of this homestand. Since being elevated to second in the lineup, Testa is hitting .367 (22-for-60) with 10 extra-base hits and 11 RBIs in 16 games.

Rey Navarro continued his breakout season by posting his team-best 17th multi-hit game of the year with his 2-for-4, two-RBI performance on Tuesday. Navarro had 18 games with two hits or more over 107 games played with last season's Blue Rocks. He is one of only two Blue Rocks with at least 10 at-bats that owns a batting average over .300 against the Keys (8-for-23, .348). Testa (6-for-19, .316) is the other.

Alex McClure enjoyed his first three-hit game of the season. The effort raised the shortstop's season-long batting average to .179, the highest it has been at any point in 2011.

Bryan Paukovits earned his first save of the season by not allowing a base runner during 3.1 frames of work in Wilmington's 3-1 win. The Rocks have registered 13 saves as a team in 2011, and six different hurlers are responsible for at least one of those win-preserving performances.

Frederick cannot buy a clutch hit at Frawley Stadium. The Keys, who went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday, are a combined 2-for-21 in those situations during the first two contests of this three-game set.

The Blue Rocks earned a rare win over a Carolina League Northern Division rival on Tuesday. Wilmington is just 7-11 in games played against its C.L. North brethren this year, including a 1-5 mark against the Keys. The victory increased the Blue Crew's lead in the division to three games over Frederick.

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Carolina League Stories from May 24, 2011


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