CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Sweep Second Straight Doubleheader

Published on August 21, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - A long day at Frawley Stadium ended happily for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. After beating the Salem Red Sox, 6-3, in the opener of Sunday's doubleheader, both teams had to endure a two-hour, 13-minute wait between games thanks to rain and lightning on the Wilmington Riverfront. When the nightcap finally did get underway, the Rocks enjoyed a 4-0 victory. It was the Blue Crew's second sweep of a twinbill against the Sox in as many days and it extended Wilmington's longest home winning streak of the season to six games.

The Rocks overcame an early deficit to earn the win in game one. The contest turned during a four-run second inning by the Wilmington offense.

Nine Blue Crewers came to the plate in the decisive frame. Three straight line-drive singles by John Whittleman, Ryan Stovall and Yem Prades got the frame started. Prades' knock went to right and scored Whittleman. Bryce Brentz misplayed the ball, allowing Prades and Stovall to move to second and third respectively. That set up Julio Rodriguez's sacrifice fly to center, which tied the game, 2-2.

Deivy Batista followed by drawing a two-out walk to put runners at the corners. Whit Merrifield scored Prades with his single to right and Carlo Testa plated Batista with a knock to left.

Meanwhile, Wilmington starter Justin Marks had to settle in after a rough start. Marks was greeted by back-to-back singles to start the game. That was followed one-out later by a two-run double to left off the bat of Brentz.

The left-hander then had to pitch his way around a pair of free passes in the second. Marks worked four full counts in the frame, but managed to keep the Sox from scoring any runs. He settled in and fanned three over the next two innings, but his day ended after just four frames.

Allen Caldwell (1-0) came in out of the bullpen and shut the Sox down for two innings. The Wilmington offense added to its advantage during that time. Again the Rocks began a frame with three straight singles. Testa, Van Stratten and Whittleman opened the third with knocks, the third of which upped the Rocks' lead to three runs. Prades capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right that gave the Blue Crew a 6-2 edge.

Gary Cuevas got the chance to nail down the win in the seventh, but in his Wilmington debut the right-hander failed to even record an out. A walk and two consecutive singles cut the advantage to three runs and sent Brian Rupp back to his bullpen.

Kendal Volz entered the contest with the tying run at the plate and nobody out, but the former Salem right-hander immediately induced a 4-6-3 double play from Heiker Meneses. He then retired Kolbrin Vitek to pick up his first save as a Blue Rock.

Wilmington got a gem from Elisaul Pimentel and some run-producing extra-base hits in the nightcap.

Joey Lewis sent a solo home run over the left-field fence in the third, and then Prades' lead-off triple in the fifth set up a sacrifice fly by Ferguson. Whittleman put the exclamation point on things in the sixth. His two-run double to dead-center put the game away.

Pimentel (6-7) was magnificent on the other side of the ball. The right-hander strung together six scoreless frames, striking out six and walking only one. Salem managed just one true threat against him, putting together a pair of two-out hits in the third. With runners at the corners, Pimentel punched out Vitek to squash the rally.

Wilmington gets Monday off before beginning a six-game road trip at Potomac on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. Neither team has announced who will start on the mound.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Carlo Testa continues to come through at Frawley Stadium. The outfielder went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, an RBI and a run scored in the opener on Sunday. He worked a walk in game two. On the season Testa is hitting .324 with 24 RBIs in 43 games at home. On the road he is batting only .229 with 10 RBIs in 45 contests. Testa has also reached safely in 31 of his last 33 games.

The Rocks won the opener despite allowing their opponent to score first. Entering Sunday Wilmington was just 16-39 when failing to score the contest's initial run.

Kendal Volz earned the save in game one at the expense of his former teammates. Volz was traded from Boston to Kansas City in exchange for Mike Aviles on July 30. He had begun the season with Salem, going 2-3 with a 3.33 ERA and a .222 batting average against in 31 games with the Sox.

Joey Lewis' home run in game two was the infielder's first dinger since June 16, when he took Winston-Salem hurler Joe Serafin deep. Sunday's long ball snapped Lewis out of an 0-for-14 slump.

The Rocks earned just their fourth doubleheader sweep of the season on Sunday, but their second in as many days. Before this weekend, the last time Wilmington had taken both halves of a twinbill was also against the Red Sox, on May 18 in Salem. The Blue Crew improved to 10-4 in double dips, while Salem fell to 7-13.

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Carolina League Stories from August 21, 2011


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