CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Seven-Run Sixth Gives Wilmington Win

Published on August 31, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - Things looked bleak for the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium. Wilmington had spotted the Myrtle Beach Pelicans a three-run advantage and still trailed by two entering the bottom of the sixth. Things changed dramatically in that half frame however, as the Blue Crew sent 10 men to the plate and scored seven runs. The offensive onslaught propelled the Rocks to a 9-4 win.

The inning began with a bang, as Nick Francis sent the first pitch soaring over the left-field fence for a solo home run. Myrtle Beach then gave the Rocks a gift, as Salvador Perez's grounder to short resulted in a throwing-error by Jordan Kreke, which allowed Perez to reach safely. After an Eddie Prasch fly out to left, Pelicans starter Cory Rasmus issued back-to-back walks. The second free pass loaded the bases and ended his outing.

Reliever Andrew Wilson came on and was greeted by a first-pitch line-drive double down the left-field line by Adrian Ortiz. The two-run knock gave the Rocks their first lead of the night. Chrisitan Colon followed with a walk to reload the bases for Wil Myers.

The Rocks' designated hitter entered the at-bat in a 6-for-33 slump, but he busted out of that in a big way. The 19-year-old prospect sent a majestic fly ball deep into the Wilmington night. His home run easily cleared the left-field fence and blew open what had been a close game.

It was a far cry from how the night started for the Blue Crew. Wilmington had spotted Myrtle Beach an early advantage when a Gerry Rodriguez sacrifice fly scored Cole Miles in the opening inning. The Rocks tied things up in the third on a sacrifice fly of their own. Colon plated Rene Orientalwith a fly to deep right.

Myrtle Beach went back in front in the fourth with three runs off Wilmington starter Bryan Paukovits. Rodriguez and Mike Jones opened the inning with a pair of softly hit singles to left field. Cody Johnson brought them both home with a three-run dinger to right. The long ball gave the Pelicans a 4-1 lead.

Wilmington crawled to within two in the fifth. Ortiz opened the frame with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing-error by catcher Matt Kenelly. Colon followed with an RBI single up the middle, which made it, 4-2.

That set the stage for the Rocks' offensive explosion in the sixth.

Brendan Lafferty (3-1) got the win out of the bullpen. The left-hander allowed just two hits and fanned four in 2.2 scoreless innings. Rasmus (0-3) took the loss for the Pelicans. He yielded six runs (five earned) on seven hits and four walks in 5.1 frames.

The Rocks host Myrtle Beach again on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. Aaron Crow (1-2, 5.79) hits the hill for Wilmington against Pelicans southpaw Matt Crim (7-10, 4.88).

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The Wilmington Blue Rocks established a new franchise record for strikeouts in a single season on Tuesday night. The Blue Crew fanned 11 to bring its season total up to 1092. The previous mark was set by the 1999 Blue Rocks, who registered 1,090 punchouts as a staff. Brendan Lafferty whiffed Cody Johnson in the eighth for the record-setter.

The grand slam by Wil Myers was only the second salami of the season by a Blue Rock. Nick Francis authored the other against Kinston on July 25. Myers' blast also won a fan some big money. The dinger came during the "ADT Security Services Grand Slam Inning." A lucky fan, chosen at random took home $1,000 as a result.

Myers told reporters after the game that it was his first career grand slam at any level.

Wilmington's seven-run sixth inning equaled its largest scoring outburst of the season. The Rocks scored seven in an inning one other time, in a July 27 victory over the Potomac Nationals.

The Rocks finished August with a record of 13-14. The team posted a .273 batting average during the month and a 3.96 staff ERA. Nick Francis led the team with six home runs and 19 RBIs while Salvador Perez paced the squad with a .390 average.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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



Carolina League Stories from August 31, 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