CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Offense Back into Hibernation During Lopsided Loss

Published on June 8, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks offense disappeared again on Wednesday, and the result was not pretty. One night after the Blue Crew seemed to snap out of a prolonged funk at the plate, the Rocks managed just two hits in a 9-1 rout at the hands of the Kinston Indians. The loss was the team's 11th in its last 13 games.

Wilmington scored its only run of the night in the fourth inning, and it came appropriately enough on an out. The Rocks put runners at second and third with no outs courtesy of two singles by Whit Merrifield and Yem Prades and a double-steal. Rey Navarro failed to advance either man when he flied out to shallow right, and Nick Francis only brought one home with his RBI chopper to short. When Tim Ferguson lined out to short one batter later, the Rocks only inning when a runner moved into scoring position came to a close.

Things were not much prettier on the other side of the ball for the Blue Crew. Starter Justin Marks lasted just five frames, allowing four runs in the process. The left-hander's outing started out strong, as he retired the side in order over the first two innings. He even wiggled out of consecutive inning-opening singles unscathed in the third. But Jeremie Tice pierced his sense of invisibility in the fourth when he launched a two-run bomb to right that gave Kinston the lead.

The K-Tribe would add to their advantage an inning later thanks to four straight one-out hits. Back-to-back doubles by Delvy Cid and Tyler Holt made it, 3-1. After Justin Toole singled to put runners at the corners, Adam Abraham made it a three-run Kinston advantage with his run-scoring single to right.

Marks (2-4) gave way to Brendan Lafferty, who faced the minimum in the sixth and then stranded a runner in scoring position in the seventh. But the wheels fell off for the left-hander when he came out for a third inning of relief. Lafferty allowed the first five batters of the seventh inning to reach safely, four on successive singles and the fifth on Roberto Perez's bases-clearing triple that made it, 7-1. A Lafferty wild pitch brought home Perez and capped the night's scoring.

T.J. House (3-6) got the win for Kinston. House held the Rocks to just one run on two hits in 6.2 strong frames of work. The right-hander struggled with his command by walking four, and pitched to contact with no strikeouts. But he found a way to get enough outs to allow his offense to work its way to a convincing victory.

The series and the homestand wraps up on Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch at Frawley Stadium. Reigning Carolina League Pitcher of the Week Elisaul Pimentel (3-3, 4.58) hits the hill for Wilmington against Kinston left-hander Clayton Cook (6-3, 3.17). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. when 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.

There will be a special postgame fireworks show presented by Bank of America as well as an appearance by the Philadelphia Eagles' cheerleaders and mascot, Swoop. For tickets call 302-888-BLUE or visit bluerocks.com.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Yem Prades has posted hits in four consecutive games and six of his last seven starts. The outfielder, who had not stepped foot in the United States before arriving in Wilmington in late-May, reached base safely twice during Wednesday's loss. He walked in the opening frame and had one of the Rocks' two hits of the game in the fourth. He is batting .267 overall on the season in 16 games.

Despite being dominated on both sides of the ball during the season-series, Wilmington's loss on Wednesday dropped its record to just a game below .500 against the Kinston Indians in 2011. The Rocks are batting only .186 against the K-Tribe as a team and their pitching staff has posted a collective ERA of 4.81 during the 13 encounters. Kinston meanwhile is hitting more than 100 points better against the Rocks at, .295, while the K-Tribe's collective ERA is well over a point lower at 2.96.

Blue Rocks' pitching continues to find no answer for Kinston slugger Adam Abraham. The third baseman went 2-for-5 on Wednesday, scored a run and drove in one as well. In 13 games this season against the Rocks, he is hitting .371 (19-for-51) with nine doubles, four homers and 11 RBIs. Against the other seven teams in the Carolina League Abraham has managed a meager .206 batting average (26-for-126) with six doubles, three home runs and 17 RBIs in 41 contests.

The Kinston Indians have managed to reach double figures in hits in three straight games for only the second time this season. The K-Tribe pounded 16 hits in the series-opener, had 12 in Tuesday's Wilmington win, and added 15 more knocks on Wednesday. The only other time Kinston managed to turn this trick came from April 19-21 and two of those contests were against the Rocks. Wilmington has not had a double-digit hit performance since May 21. The Rocks have been out-hit over these three games, 41-15.

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Carolina League Stories from June 8, 2011


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