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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Strong Pitching and Early Offense Reels in Mudcats

April 16, 2018 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (5-6) used strong pitching and early offense to earn a 5-1 series opening victory over the Carolina Mudcats (6-6) Monday night at Frawley Stadium. Blue Rocks' starter Cristian Castillo earned his first win of the season and worked five strong innings and allowed just one run. Gabriel Cancel and Chase Vallot each drove in a pair of runs in the winning effort.

After Carolina jumped to an early 1-0 lead on an RBI double from Ronnie Gideon, the Blue Crew strung together a pair of two-run innings to take a 4-1 lead. Chris DeVito and Vallot drew bases loaded RBI walks in the first inning to make it a 2-1 game before Cancel ripped a two-run double in the second inning to pad the Wilmington lead, 4-1. Vallot drove in his second run of the game in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly to plate Khalil Lee who led the inning off with a single and moved to third on an Emmanuel Rivera double.

Castillo was sharp on the mound after surrendering the early first inning run. He allowed just the lone run on five hits, walked two and struck out five. The bullpen combination of Justin Camp and Walker Sheller bridged the final four innings of work in dominant fashion. The two combined for seven strikeouts and allowed just two hits. Sheller earned his second save of the season.

The Rocks and Mudcats will play the middle game of the three-game set on Tuesday, April 17. Right-hander Jace Vines (0-2, 12.91 ERA) makes the start for Wilmington while righty Trey Supak (0-0, 0.90 ERA) starts for Carolina. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. and fans can listen to the game as Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh will have the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

With Cristian Castillo earning the win Monday night, it marked the first time this season a starting pitcher for the Blue Rocks earned a victory through the team's first 11 games. Entering the ballgame, the starters were 0-4 with a 4.66 ERA in 10 starts. The relievers were 4-2 with a 2.56 ERA. However, Castillo's stellar start Monday night, in which he allowed one run, also marked the ninth time in 11 games that a starting pitcher for Wilmington has allowed three earned runs or less in a start.

Khalil Lee continues his torrid pace at the plate at just 19-years-old. The outfielder reached base two more times Monday thanks to a walk and single and he also scored a run. Lee entered Monday leading the Carolina League in on-base percentage and slugging percentage and top-three in batting average. He also leads the team in home runs (2) and RBI (6). The outfielder has reached base in all 10 games played this season.

With the victory Monday night, the Blue Crew have won back-to-back games for the first time this season. They are also winners of three of their last four games after starting the season 2-5. During the last four games, Wilmington has outscored their opponents 16-9 and have put up a season-high five runs in back-to-back wins.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics



Carolina League Stories from April 16, 2018


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