CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Ramp it Up in Ninth, Score Three Runs in Final At Bats for 3-2 Walk-Off Win

Published on May 18, 2016 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks' (11-27) offense was silent through the first eight innings of their game against the Frederick Keys (17-22) on Wednesday and it looked like they were heading to another home loss. However, the offense that was caged up for almost the entirety of the game unleashed itself in the ninth and scored three runs to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 walk-off win. Alfredo Escalera's single to right ended the affair and gave the Blue Crew just their second come-from-behind victory of the season.

Zach Lovvorn started the game for the Rocks, but the starter for the Keys, Mitch Horacek, went toe-to-toe with Lovvorn and outpitched him for six innings. Lovvorn allowed just one unearned run in six innings of work, but the left arm of Horacek kept the Blue and White off of the board through six of his own innings. The game went to the ninth inning with the Keys up 1-0 and they added another run for a 2-0 advantage off of reliever Matt Alvarez. That set the stage for the Rocks biggest rally of the season.

With one out in the ninth, Elier Hernandez started things with a single. Robert Pehl followed with a double to the left-center field gap to put the boys from Frawley on the board and cut the deficit in half at 2-1. The next man up was Luis Villegas and the catcher, who had hit just four triples in his entire six year career coming into the game, blasted a ball to deep left-center. The ball one-hopped the wall, driving in Pehl to tie the game at 2-2, but Villegas kept motoring and rounded second searching for the triple. The backstop continued to sprint towards the third base bag and flopped into the bag with his first triple of the season and a 2-2 tie. After a strikeouts by Josh Banuelos, Escalera took a 2-2 pitch and inside-outed the offering to right field, driving in Villegas and giving the Blue Rocks their second walk-off win in their last three home games.

The two teams will play the rubber match of the series at 6:35 p.m. LHP Matt Tenuta (2-1 5.66) will attempt to give the Rocks the series win while RHP David Richardson (1-1, 4.91) will look to do the same for the Keys. Fans interested in seeing the game live can contact the ticket office at 302-888-BLUE or get their tickets online at BlueRocks.com. Those interested in listening to the game can tune in to WGLS-FM 89.7 or go to BlueRocks.com for all the game action.

Pebbles of Knowledge

The Wilmington Blue Rocks went their first 17 games at Frawley Stadium without a walk-off win. However, they have now done so in two of their last three games after they accomplished the feat in their 3-2 win over the Frederick Keys on Wednesday. The first walk-off win of the season came on Sunday May 8, when the Rocks went 11 innings against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and Wander Franco drove in Alfredo Escalera for the game winning run. This time around it was Escalera doing the honors by driving in Luis Villegas who had tripled two batters earlier to tie the game at 2-2. It capped an impressive game for Escalera who reached three times in five at bats, going 2-for-4 with a walk.

Falling behind early has usually been the kiss of death for the Blue Crew this season. Entering the game on Wednesday, the Rocks had been 1-21 when the opponent scored first and that lone win was a one run comeback against the Carolina Mudcats on April 11. In that game, the Blue and White fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning before scoring two in the bottom of the frame and winning 6-4. The two run comeback was the largest of the season and erases their stats of being 0-22 when trailing after seven innings and 0-23 when trailing after eight frames. It also moves their record to 2-5 in one run games with the only other win the previous walk-off.

Although the Rocks walked off victorious, their starting pitcher, Zach Lovvorn did not get credit with the win. Lovvorn is 0-5 on the year and still looking for his first victory, but it is not for lack of effectiveness. Lovvorn has an ERA of just. 3.60 after going six innings and allowing one unearned run in the game on Wednesday. He produced his best line of the season in terms of strikeouts, fanning seven batters without walking a single member of the lineup. Run support has been the issue for the Rocks when it comes to helping out their starter. The overall run support for the righty before the Wednesday game was 1.4 and was even lower during starts, managing just a single run of support when he is on the mound to begin games. Those number dropped to 1.25 and 0.83 after the Blue Crew was unable to score a run with him on the bump.

They Said It

Blue Rocks Manager Jamie Quirk

"Yes, it's a great walk-off win and we battled the whole game. Pitching was great today and it kept us in the game and it waited just long enough for the offense to do something and in the ninth inning they came through with a big rally for us and a big win."

"I don't know if I would call that a slide when Luis (Villegas) went into third, I think it was more of a fall. But I was happy for him. He hit that ball good and he made the right decision; he's not a fast guy, but I could tell coming around second he wanted to get in there and that was all on him. He was gonna get to third with one out and he did a good job, but we'll work on sliding tomorrow."

"Having good at bats always helps and eventually your hard work your competitive at bats, your good at bats will pay off and he (Robert Pehl) hit a nice double there in the ninth and got us on the board. And that goes for anybody. You have good at bats and a lot of the time it is hard to stick with it because everything is predicated on results in this game, you want results. Sometimes you don't get good results and you do everything right and finally he got a great result in the ninth inning and it was big for him."

"(Zach) Lovvorn gave up just one run, one unearned run, in six innings and he leaves the game with us behind and then they add one on so getting a no decision for him there was great because he has had a few of those where we let him down. We got him off of the hook and he did a great job. No earned runs. No walks was key and he pitched very well today."

"It's very nice to have the full supply of arms. You know, you have some options and you can go to rested guys. We've been short-handed due to the big league club needing somebody. The big league club needs somebody from Triple-A and then it's a trick down effect. You deal with it, you move on, but now we're all here and we've got a full pitching staff and we can get guys on normal days rest and they're pitching well."

Blue Rocks Catcher Luis Villegas (through a translator)

"As soon as I hit that ball in the ninth I knew it was going to be an extra base hit and as soon as I turned second base my legs gave out a little bit, but I made it to third safely so it's all good... My emotions were kind of getting the best of me at the end there and I was tired so I didn't know whether to go in sliding, or standing so I just kind of threw myself at the bag and that's how you got that slide."

"I was trying to stay back and find a good pitch to swing at and that's what happened. I got my pitch and I got that line drive to left-center."

"The shaving cream stings the eyes a little bit, but it's a good kind of sting. They eyes don't hurt, the leg doesn't hurt, I feel really good right now after the win."

Blue Rocks Outfielder Alfredo Escalera

"That last at bat I was just trying to get a good swing on it and hit it hard somewhere. After he got me with two-strikes I was just trying to put the ball in play and, you know, things happen when you put the ball in play and I got that hole on the right side and I put it there and managed to get the base hit to win the game."

"A win like this is huge because it propels us for the rest of the series. Gives us a big morale booster. We were down the whole game and managed to get three runs there at the end so it's definitely great for us as we continue this homestand and hopefully beat Frederick in the last game of this series."

"My first two years when I signed and my years at AZL (Royals), Burlington (Royals), and Lexington (Legends), I led off for those three teams, and then last year I was more like 2, 3 and then 5. Then the beginning of this year I was at five, but since I got moved back to 2 and 1 I was like, "this is more like the old days." It definitely feels good and I've hit there before so I'm more comfortable. I'll do whatever the manager needs me to do, but you get more fastballs up in the order and you get more at bats so it helps in terms of getting my timing back."

"It is definitely (Humberto) Arteaga and Downsey (Brandon Downes) who have the supplies ready for the walk-off wins. Those two are always trying to make things funny with the shaving cream pies to the face and the Gatorades... I actually was able to duck the Gatorade bath out at second and it got all over one of the pitchers faces so that was kind of funny. He got me in the back a little bit, but one of the pitchers wore it and he wasn't happy about it, but it's still fun and of course it's a win, and winning is fun."

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Carolina League Stories from May 18, 2016


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