CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Shutdown by P-Nats

Published on April 18, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - And to think, Evan Bronson was not even supposed to start on Sunday. It was Fabian Robinson who was slated to start, but when he complained of shoulder stiffness on Saturday night, Bronson got the opportunity to make his first career start on Sunday, and took ample advantage.

The Potomac left-hander allowed only two hits in five scoreless innings as the Nationals took an 8-0 decision from the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Sunday afternoon at Frawley Stadium.

Bronson (1-0) kept the Wilmington batters at-bay with relative ease. Only one Blue Rock made it as far as second base against him, and that came on a hit-batsman and a fielder's choice ground ball.

Blue Rocks starter Jairo Cuevas found no such success, as the right-hander took his second loss of the season in as many starts. Cuevas (0-2) surrendered five runs on five hits, and failed to make it out of the fifth frame.

After missing all of 2009 recovering from shoulder surgery, Cuevas struggled right from the start. He allowed a pair of runs in the first, on a Michael Burgess RBI double, and a run-scoring single by Tim Pahuta. Burgess came home from third on Pahuta's hit. He advanced to that point on a Cuevas wild pitch. It was a critical play, as Burgess probably could not have scored from second on Pahuta's bloop-single.

Potomac added two more tallies in the fourth. Tyler Moore opened the frame with a walk and Pahuta followed with a titanic blast over the fence in right. The third baseman finished the day 3-for-5 with four RBIs and a run scored.

The P-Nats put two men on base with one out in the fifth, and that was all for Cuevas. Riquy Pena entered, promptly walked a man,and then uncorked a wild pitch which made it 5-0 Potomac.

In the seventh, Potmac made it 6-0 on another Pahuta RBI single. Then in the eighth the P-Nats capped the scoring on Brian Peacock's two-run homer.

Wilmington continues its first homestand of 2010 as it welcomes the Kinston Indians to town on Monday at 6:35 p.m. ET. Mike Montgomery (1-0, 0.75) gets the start for Wilmington, while Kinston will counter with Kelvin De La Cruz (0-2, 5.59).

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Eric Hosmer extended his season-opening hitting streak to 10 games with his fourth inning infield single on Sunday. Hosmer is now batting a torrid .444 (16-for-39) on the campaign.

Hosmer's hit was also only the second of the season from a Wilmington DH. Blue Rocks designated hitters are now 2-for-31 in 2010.

Patrick Norris reached on a bunt single in the opening inning. It marked the center fielder's fifth infield hit. He has nine hits total for the season.

Three of the Rocks' four hits on Sunday failed to leave infield.

Sunday marked the first time in 2010 Wilmington failed to score a run in a game. The Blue Crew were blanked 14 times in 2009. It was Wilmington's most lopsided shutout loss since it dropped a 9-0 decision on August 9 of that season. The game also served as Wilmington's worst shutout defeat at home since an April 6, 2003 12-0 loss to Myrtle Beach.

Before the game the Rocks made three roster moves. Wilmington sent catcher Ryan Theriot to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Theriot had started three games for Wilmington and had gone 4-for-12 at the plate. To replace Theriot Wilmington received catcher Juan Graterol from extended Spring Training in Surprise, AZ. Graterol split time between Idaho Falls (PIO) and Burlington (MWL) in 2009. He popped out in his Wilmington debut in the ninth. The Rocks also placed reliever James Thompson on the disabled list. Thompson had a 9.82 ERA in two appearances for the Rocks.

Wilmington manager Brian Rupp also said before the game that pitcher Manauris Baez would pitch exclusively as a reliever. He began the year as a piggyback starter, paired with Jairo Cuevas. But Baez tossed two scoreless frames of relief on Saturday night to earn his first win.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from April 18, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central