CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Smith Pitches Rocks into First Place

Published on August 24, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Woodbridge, VA - Wilmington starter Will Smith (3-1) stole the show with eight innings of one-hit shutout ball in a 4-2 defeat of the Potomac Nationals (61-65, 30-26) at Pfitzner Stadium on Tuesday night. Smith struck out a career-best 12 while walking none as the Blue Crew (63-64, 31-26) grabbed sole possession of first place in the Carolina League's Northern Division from their longtime nemesis.

A three-run opening inning gave the Blue Rocks a lead that would carry them the rest of the way. Adrian Ortiz singled, took second on a wild pitch, third on a groundball double play and scored on another wild effort from Potomac starter Trevor Holder (2-3). Ernesto Mejia fell down 0-2 in the count but rallied back to work a walk. The next man up, Nick Francis, followed with his team-leading 12th homer for the 3-0 lead.

Eddie Prasch added a solo shot in the fourth for a 4-0 advantage and Smith dominated. The southpaw enjoyed a perfect game until nine-hole hitter Nick Moresi singled up the middle with two down in the sixth. Smith would not allow another baserunner on the night. He concluded his evening with five straight strikeouts, shattering his previous career-high of nine in a game.

Lefty Kevin Chapman began the ninth and ran into some trouble. He walked Robby Jacobsen, who scored from first on a subsequent double to right by Moresi. A groundout and a strikeout later, the game appeared over when Derek Norris blooped a ball to shallow right. Second baseman Rey Navarro emphatically called for it, but overran the flair. He dove back toward the falling ball only to see it fall in for an RBI double.

That allowed the league leader in home runs, Tyler Moore, to come to the plate as the tying tally. But Moore flied out to center field to end the game.

The final clash of these division rivals concludes on Wednesday night at 7:03 p.m. Right-hander Tim Melville (2-11, 5.29), who was born in nearby Alexandria, VA and spent a large portion of his childhood in the Norfolk and Chesapeake areas, opposes a man with Major League time in righty Jimmy Barthmaier (3-1, 3.63).

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Brian Rupp's club owns sole possession of first place for the first time since the start of the month.

Three of the Rocks' four runs came courtesy of the two long balls. Of the Rocks' 66 homers, 44 (67%) of them have been hit away from Frawley Stadium. Also, 39 (59%) of the round-trippers have been solo shots.

Five of Wilmington's seven hits on the game were singles. That included three infield hits, two by Rey Navarro and one by Patrick Norris, the speedster's team-leading 17th of the season.

Two Blue Rocks have struck out 13 men in a game this year. Michael Montgomery whiffed a baker's dozen on April 13 at Kinston. Chris Dwyer technically notched 13 strikeouts on June 13 at Winston-Salem. However, his nine-inning complete game came over two days as the game was suspended due to rain on that Sunday and finished that Friday. Dwyer did register 11 of the strikeouts in six innings to conclude the contest.

All three Wilmington hurlers with 12 or more strikeouts in a game this season throw from the left side. The prior two each made just two more Blue Rocks starts before promotions to Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

Tyler Moore continues to struggle against Wilmington pitching. The Carolina League leader in every major power category and strong MVP candidate has hit a slim .229 (16-for-70) against the Rocks this season with 22 strikeouts and just two of his league-leading 28 homers.

The Blue Rocks bullpen concluded the 14-inning series opener with nine scoreless innings. Combined with eight shutout frames to start Tuesday's middle match of the three-game set, Potomac went without a tally for 17 innings.

The win guaranteed the Rocks a series win on the three-game set and on the season against Potomac. Wilmington had not won more than it lost against the P-Nats since 2007. The team bids for its fourth sweep of the season on Wednesday night.

Fueled by Will Smith's dominance, the game lasted just 2:16.

Smith tied his career-high for innings in a game, now reached five times. In 39.2 innings this season with the Blue Rocks, the former Angels prospect has struck out 37 while walking just four for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 9.25:1.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 24, 2010


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