CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks' Struggles Against Potomac Continue

Published on July 27, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks' recent funk continued on Wednesday. Tyler Sample allowed a pair of first-frame runs and the Blue Crew could not recover as the Potomac Nationals scored a wire-to-wire, 5-1 win at Frawley Stadium. The setback was Wilmington's 11th in its last 13 games and dropped the Rocks eight games behind Potomac in the race for a postseason berth.

Potomac made Sample (6-8) pay for issuing an inning-opening walk to Francisco Soriano in the top of the first. The shortstop advanced into scoring position when Sample's pickoff attempt was mishandled at first by Ryan Stovall and he scored one out later on Destin Hood's RBI single. Hood also came home when Justin Bloxom followed with a fly ball that appeared to hit beyond the fence in left field and then caromed back into the field of play. Instead the laser was ruled off the top of the wall and Bloxom had to settle for a run-scoring double that gave Potomac a 2-0 advantage.

Meanwhile, the Wilmington offense could muster nothing off Potomac starter Sammy Solis. The sixth-ranked prospect in the Washington Nationals system according to Baseball America used the double play to his advantage early. He induced a 1-6-3 twin killing in the first and a 4-6-3 double dip in the third. Both came off the bat of Blue Crew outfielder Nick Van Stratten.

Solis (4-1) then shifted into another gear. The southpaw recorded 14 consecutive outs from the third inning through the seventh. Only a leadoff walk and an RBI double by Gerard Hall in the eighth kept the Rocks from getting blanked. Solis finished his night after 7.1 one-run frames with four strikeouts and only two walks.

Sample was not so fortunate. The right-hander surrendered three more scores before his night ended with two on and no outs in the sixth. He yielded a solo homer in the fourth by J.R. Higley and an RBI single in the sixth by Sandy Leon. Eury Perez capped the scoring for Potomac with his run-scoring grounder to first later that same frame.

Wilmington will look to salvage a split with the P-Nats as the teams' four-game series comes to a close with a Thursday matinee on the Riverfront at 12:05 p.m. Justin Marks (5-7, 4.70) hits the hill for Wilmington against Potomac right-hander Paul Demny (6-9, 5.02). Broadcast coverage begins at 11:35 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:

The Rocks' defensive misery continued on Wednesday. Wilmington committed two more errors, with both coming on failed pickoff attempts. The first was charged to first baseman Ryan Stovall for failing to catch Tyler Sample's toss and the second was a two-bag miscue that was charged to Sample. Wilmington has now had an error in 18 of its last 20 games. The Blue Crew's 106th 107th defensive miscues of the season make for 30 over the team's last 19 games.

Alex Rivers made his Blue Rocks and Advanced-A debut on Wednesday. The reliever, who was just called up from the Burlington Royals' roster before the game, retired all six men he faced in two scoreless innings on the hill. Rivers began the season in extended spring training before playing two games with the Arizona Royals (ARL) and appearing in nine contests with the B-Royals. The right-hander posted a scant 1.02 ERA and a 1-1 record as he fanned 19 and walked only four in 17.2 innings pitched for Burlington.

To make room for Rivers on the roster, Joey Lewis was placed on the disabled list with a right thigh contusion before the game. Lewis had two hits in Tuesday's nightcap, but had just five total in the month of July. The Rocks also added Allen Caldwell to the fold. Caldwell, who replaced the recently promoted Brendan Lafferty in the bullpen, is a former position player. The Sumter, SC product struggled as a Low-A outfielder in 2010, hitting just .176 over 23 games. He moved to the hill that same season, appearing in 14 games including one start over two levels of Rookie ball. In 11 contests with the 2011 Cougars, Caldwell went 4-0 with one save in his lone opportunity. He posted a 2.39 ERA while holding the league to a .213 batting average. He struck out an impressive 39 in just 26.1 innings pitched (13.3/9 IP), while walking only nine. In a 7-6 win at West Michigan that took 15 innings to complete, he tossed five scoreless innings to earn the win one week ago.

Whit Merrifield reached twice in the losing cause. Merrifield has been trending upward of late at the plate. After going 1-for-3 with a walk on Wednesday, the utility man is hitting .313 (15-for-48) in his last 11 games.

Carlo Testa continued to impress offensively at Frawley Stadium. The outfielder had a pair of knocks in the wire-to-wire setback. Testa improved his average to .319 on the year at home, 99 points higher than his contact clip on the road.

Tyler Sample allowed at least five runs for the seventh time in his last 10 outings. The right-hander also saw his struggles against the Potomac Nationals continue. In his last two starts against the P-Nats Sample has allowed 15 runs (nine earned) in only 6.2 innings pitched, taking the loss in both games.

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Carolina League Stories from July 27, 2011


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