CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Swept Away in Frederick

Published on August 17, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Frederick, MD - The Wilmington Blue Rocks are certainly glad they have played their final game in Frederick during the 2011 campaign. The Rocks fell for the ninth time in 10 tries at the home of their closest geographic rival in the Carolina League, falling on Wednesday to the Keys, 4-1. The loss completed a three-game sweep for Frederick and marked the fifth sweep suffered by the Blue Crew on the season.

For the third time in as many nights the Keys got out to an early lead thanks to the long ball. This time it was Kipp Schutz who snuck a Tyler Sample pitch just inside the right-field foul pole for a 1-0 Frederick advantage in the second.

The Keys extended their lead to a pair in the fifth. Sample (7-11) was burned by a leadoff bruise to Mike Flacco. Justin Dalles followed with a single past short and Frederick was in business with runners at first and second with nobody out. The runners were still standing there two outs late however, as it appeared Sample might wiggle his way out of the jam. That possibility was erased by Jonathan Schoop's run-scoring single to center that made it 2-0.

Meanwhile, the Rocks' offense came out of the blocks firing blanks. Frederick starter Scott Copeland needed just four pitches to retire the side in order in the first. It took the right-hander only six pitches to get through the second. Copeland (3-0) had to break a sweat as he needed 13 pitches and a runner caught stealing to move past the third.

Wilmington finally woke up and put together a threat in the fourth. Carlo Testa walked and stole a base to put the Rocks' first runner in scoring position of the night. Ryan Stovall was then hit by a pitch, but Tim Ferguson struck out to strand them both at first and second.

The Blue Crew put together an even better scoring threat in the sixth. Testa got it going with a one-out infield single. Nick Van Stratten followed with a double to the wall in left and then John Whittleman was intentionally walked to load the bases. That ended Copeland's night as he was replaced out of the bullpen by Randy Henry.

Henry was greeted by Stovall, who cut the deficit in half with a sacrifice fly to center. It would be the Rocks' last productive at-bat of the game. Ferguson again fanned to leave a pair on and Wilmington would not get another baserunner the rest of the night.

Frederick added insurance tallies in the seventh and the eighth. Michael Rooney made it 3-1 Keys with a sacrifice fly to center in the seventh, while Brian Ward's run-scoring double an inning later gave Frederick a three-run edge.

Jason Gurka got the night's final five outs to pick up his first save of the season with Frederick.

The Blue Rocks return to Frawley Stadium on Thursday to begin a four-game homestand against the Salem Red Sox at 7:05 p.m. Justin Marks (7-8, 4.32)hits the hill for Wilmington against fellow southpaw Chris Hernandez (10-5, 2.41). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:35 p.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:

Yem Prades went 1-for-4 in the setback. The outfielder extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a linedrive single up the middle in the third. Prades has batted .302 (13-for-43) during what is the longest active hitting streak in the CL.

John Whittleman drew his league-leading 72nd walk of the season on Wednesday. It is the most free passes drawn by a Blue Rock since Josh Johnson worked 85 walks with Wilmington in 2008. It was his first intentional free pass of the season, and only the sixth for a Blue Rock in 2011.

Tyler Sample committed twice as many errors in the first three innings on Wednesday as he had in his first 23 games of the season. The hurler turned in an errant pickoff attempt in the first and then threw wildly to first on a sacrifice bunt two frames later. The Rocks as a team had a season-high five defensive miscues. Wilmington had made four errors in a game four times before Wednesday's 4-1 loss.

Wilmington's futility in Frederick has finally come to a close. The Rocks dropped nine of their 10 contests at Harry Grove Stadium in 2011, getting outscored 32-13 in the losses. It is the worst record ever for Wilmington in Frederick. The Rocks had gone 3-7 at Harry Grove Stadium five times before, with the most recent occurrence coming in 2006. The Blue Crew are just 4-13 overall against the Keys with three meetings remaining between the teams in Wilmington to close out the regular season.

Sample turned in his longest start since July 10, allowing three runs in 6.1 innings pitched. The right-hander has now turned in two consecutive quality starts. He has just four since May 20.

The Rocks have not won a series on the road in the second half. Wilmington has dropped eight sets away from Frawley Stadium since the All-Star break and have one other pending thanks to a suspended game in Salem from July 8.

Before the game on Wednesday the Kansas City Royals sent right-hander Gary Cuevas from Rookie-Advanced Idaho Falls to the Blue Rocks. A non-drafted free agent signee on September 8, 2006, he began the season with a career 5.41 ERA over four seasons and 52 games exclusively at the Rookie level. With the 2011 Chukars, he assembled a 4.58 ERA over nine relief outings. In 17.2 innings, he struck out an impressive 23, but walked 15 while hitting three batters and tossing eight wild pitches. He managed to strand four of five inherited runners, held the Pioneer League to a .179 batting average and induced a 2.6:1 groundout-to-airout ratio. His arrival puts the Blue Crew back at the CL limit of 25 active players.

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Carolina League Stories from August 17, 2011


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