CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Stumpf Dominates, Leads Blue Rocks To Third Consecutive Victory Over Carolina

Published on May 4, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Zebulon, NC - Southpaw Daniel Stumpf turned in his best start of the season Sunday, leading the Wilmington Blue Rocks to a 2-1 victory over the Carolina Mudcats at Five County Stadium. Stumpf tossed 6.2 sterling frames and allowed just one run on four hits while punching out seven. The win was the Blue Crew's third straight, and pulled the team back to within one of the .500 mark.

Wilmington scored both of its runs in the top of the seventh inning, courtesy of an infield single from Jack Lopez. With the bases loaded and two outs, Lopez was able to beat out a grounder to shortstop, plating Cam Gallagher to put the Rocks up, 1-0. Kenny Diekroeger, who was at second base, also scored on the play when Mudcats shortstop Yhoxian Medina threw the ball away attempting to gun down Lopez at first.

The Mudcats scored their lone run of the ballgame with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Stumpf retired the first two batters of the frame with ease, inducing a groundout and a lineout. The lefty then gave up a base hit to Anthony Gallas and a walk to Jerrud Sabourin, putting runners at first and second for Alex Monsalve. Darryl Kennedy then elected to remove Stumpf from the ballgame for right-hander Glenn Sparkman. Monsalve greeted Sparkman by crushing a double to left, which scored Gallas easily. However, Sabourin was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first a perfect relay throw to the dish from Terrance Gore to Jack Lopez to Cam Gallagher.

Carolina continued to apply pressure in each of the final two frames of the ballgame. The Mudcats put a pair of runners aboard in both the eighth and the ninth innings off of Sparkman and Blue Rocks closer Mark Peterson. Peterson was able to escape both jams without allowing any further damage.

Stumpf (1-4, 4.37) snapped a personal four-game losing streak Sunday to record his first win of the season. D.J. Brown (2-1, 1.75) suffered the tough-luck loss for Carolina. Peterson tossed 1.1 scoreless innings to close out the game and earn his sixth save of the season.

The Blue Rocks continue their seven-game road trip on Monday when they open up a three-game series with the Salem Red Sox. Wilmington will send southpawSean Manaea (1-2, 6.46)to the mound in game one and first pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. Fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Blue Crew will return to Frawley Stadium on Thursday, May 8. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Hunter Dozier has now reached base safely in 13 straight games. He has hits in 12 of those contests as the infielder went 1-for-4 on Sunday. Dozier is batting .386 (17-for-44) during this torrid stretch with one homer, and seven RBIs. As a result, Kansas City's 2013 first-round pick has raised his batting average by 106 points from .157 to .263. Dozier appears to favor the road where he is batting .327 on the season, as opposed to the .186 average he sports at home this year.

The Blue Rocks have been the most efficient team in the Carolina League on the basepaths this season. After aHunter Dozier theft Sunday, Wilmington is a remarkable 29-for-30 in stolen-base attempts. Not a single Blue Rocks baserunner has been thrown out by a catcher this season. The only blemish on the Rocks' pristine record came April 26, whenKenny Diekroegerwas picked off first base.Terrance Gorecurrently leads the Blue Crew with eight thefts, whileJack Lopezand Raul Mondesiare tied for second on the team with five. Diekroeger and Bubba Starling have three steals, which puts them third. Hunter Dozier ranks fourth with two, while Daniel Rockett, Zane EvansandTyler Chismhave all contributed one stolen base each. Lynchburg currently leads the Carolina League with 36 steals.

Wilmington's 2-1 victory Sunday gave the team its first three-game winning streak of the season. Prior Sunday Blue Rocks' most recent three-game winning had been August 29 - September 1 of last season. Before Saturday's 8-1 win, the Rocks had not won consecutive games in almost three weeks. The Blue Crew last strung together back-to-back victories on April 11 and 12, when it beat the Winston-Salem Dash twice. Wilmington's longest losing streak of 2014 is five games.

Blue Rocks closer Mark Peterson has been on a roll. Peterson, who has made 10 appearances out of the bullpen this season, has not yielded a run over his past eight outings. The only two runs he has given up all season came on April 6 at Winston-Salem. Over that stretch, Peterson has amassed a 12.1-inning scoreless streak. The righty's six saves tie him for the Carolina League lead. Peterson's impressive numbers are just one part of what has been an impressive bullpen for the Rocks. Collectively, the Wilmington bullpen has yielded just 29 runs, 27 of which have been earned, and posted an ERA of 2.61.

After his RBI single in the seventh inning Sunday afternoon,Jack Lopezis now an astounding 7-for-8 at the plate this season when he comes up in the seventh frame of a ballgame. Lopez was 2-for-4 overall in Sunday's game. The seventh inning has also been Wilmington's frame best offensively, as a team. The Rocks scored twice in the seventh Sunday and have now plated 18 runs in the frame this season. The Blue Crew is 11-0 in 2014 when leading after seven innings.

THEY SAID IT:

Manager Darryl Kennedy:

"That was a big outing for [Daniel Stumpf], being 0-4. He really hadn't had much luck. To go out today and do what he did was impressive. He was pitch-efficient; even though I took him out there in the seventh inning, he had a low pitch count. He could have kept going. I just felt like he worked hard enough and went to the bullpen that I trust [a lot] and it paid off for us...He used [the slider] a couple of times. I don't think he got too crazy with it, but it definitely gives him another angle against the hitters. He pitched well. The one thing I liked about today is he was able to keep the fastball down and spot it. He did a very good job holding runners, got the pickoff there; overall, just a solid job."

"I'm very proud of the guys. We're starting to swing the bat better, no doubt. [Hunter] Dozier hit a ball on the screws that went right to the left fielder. Bubba [Starling] is starting to get rolling a little bit. [He's] swinging the bat very well. I applaud the guys for just working through it and sticking with things. Again, you know, the hustle part, that's what this game is all about. It takes absolutely no talent to run a ball out and they've really bought in and I'm very proud of the way they're playing right now."

Starting Pitcher Daniel Stumpf:

"I broke out the slider today. It was the first time I was going to throw it. I was pretty confident with that. That was one that we had talked about being one of the better pitches I had, so I was pretty excited to get to throw it. Today, my main focus was just to spot up the fastball [and] go back to being the finesse guy I am and not try to overpower people. I was hitting my spots, I was working in and out and I was working up and down."

"I threw it the last day of spring training. I had talked to some of our head guys and they thought it was one of my better breaking balls. I had the okay to go ahead and start throwing it again, so I've been working on it. [I've been] throwing it in [side sessions and] throwing it on flat ground and this was the first time I brought it out in the game. There's still some stuff I need to do with it but I was pleased with the outcome of it."

"Like I said, our bats are coming around and our pitching staff, they've been pretty good already. We're starting to tune in. It's all about confidence. We needed these three to win the series. It's just building off that and having the confidence to go out there and do it."

Catcher Cam Gallagher:

"In the bullpen [Daniel Stumpf] was throwing really well. I knew today was going to be something pretty good. I knew he wasn't too happy about his first couple of starts. Today was a day game [and] he looked like he brought his A-game."

"It's kind of interesting because, about half of this staff I've played with for about three years and the other half I just started playing with them in spring training. So some of them I know really well and some of them I'm still kind of getting to know. The pitching has been keeping us in the game the whole season."

"We started off a little slow with the bats and started to come around in the seventh inning. We saw that guy previously and finally started to get on him in the seventh inning so we scratched some runs across. That's scrappy baseball and we found a way to win."

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Carolina League Stories from May 4, 2014


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