CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Tenuta Dominates as Rocks Hold On

Published on July 27, 2016 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Lynchburg, VA -- Matt Tenuta struck out a career-high nine over six scoreless innings and the Wilmington Blue Rocks held on for dear life in a 6-5 victory over the Lynchburg Hillcats on Wednesday at Calvin Falwell Field. Tenuta did not allow a hit after the opening frame and earned his first win since June 1. It did not come as easy as it appeared it would, however, as Lynchburg scored five times in the eighth inning, but stranded the bases loaded that frame and left runners at second and third in the ninth.

It was a dominant performance by Tenuta, who was facing an offense that had scored at least one run in every other game this season. Lynchburg only managed two serious threats against the lefty, and it was in the first two frames. Tenuta stranded runners at second and third in the opening inning thanks to a strikeout of Yu-Cheng Chang. He then hit Taylor Murphy in the back to start the second, but retired the next three batters to ultimately strand him at third base.

That began a string of 11 in a row retired by Tenuta. The 22-year-old also fanned five straight during one stretch, and let just two balls get to the outfield after the first frame.

While Tenuta was dominating, the Rocks offense was being opportunistic. They scored on an RBI single by Luis Villegas in the second inning and manufactured a four-run rally in the third thanks to a critical Lynchburg error followed by some timely hitting.

With runners a runner at first and one out Carlos Diaz hit a grounder to short that Chang fielded but threw wildly to second base. The error was followed by an RBI double from Wander Franco, a walk by Elier Hernandez, a sacrifice fly from Brandon Downes and a two-run double off the bat of Samir Duenez that gave the Rocks a 5-0 edge.

Wilmington added a seemingly insignificant run in the seventh inning, that turned out to be anything but. Chad Johnson tripled to right and then scored on a balk by reliever Cameron Hill. That increased the lead to six runs.

Lynchburg scored five in the eighth. Kyle Kubat allowed four straight hits to start the frame, departing with the score 6-2 and runners at second and third. Luis Rico entered and immediately walked Bobby Bradley on four pitches. He then saw one run score on a passed ball, walked Chang to reload the bases and walked Murphy to force in another run. With the score 6-4, the bases loaded and still nobody out, the Rocks made their second pitching change of the frame. Jake Kalish entered and uncorked a wild pitch that brought Lynchburg back to within a single score. But the lefty then induced a grounder back to the mound by Connor Marabell and struck out Alex Monsalve. After an intentional free pass, Kalish struck out Nathan Lukes to strand the sacks full and preserve Wilmington's one-run edge.

Kalish then issued a lead-off walk in the ninth but retired the next two batters on a flyball to center and a grounder to second. With the potential tying run in scoring position, Kalish put the possible winning run aboard with another intentional walk. He capped off his second save of the season though when he got Taylor Murphy to loft a lazy fly to right for the final out.

Wilmington returns to Frawley Stadium to open a seven-game homestand against Frederick on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. Rehabbing right-hander Andy Ferguson (0-1, 10.12) gets the ball for the Rocks against Keys righty Jon Keller. The Cowboy Monkey Rodeo will perform during and after the game and tickets are available online at BlueRocks.com.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The Blue Rocks finally broke through to win a series. Wilmington had dropped seven of its eight sets since the All-Star break before arriving in Lynchburg this week, splitting the lone outlier against Winston-Salem. The last time the Rocks captured a series prior to taking two of three from the Hillcats, was June 16-19 in Carolina when the Blue Crew took four out of six from the Mudcats. On the season Wilmington has completed 30 series, dropping 20, splitting a pair and winning just eight. The Rocks also registered a rare rubber-match win, only their second in seven tries on the campaign.

The Rocks have had trouble all season against the Lynchburg Hillcats and the Carolina League North, but have actually held their own on the road. Through the first 16 games between the two teams, the Rocks have dropped 11 to the First Half Northern Division champions, but Wilmington is 3-3 at Lynchburg's Calvin Falwell Field. In its last series against the Hillcats Wilmington pitching allowed nine homers and 37 runs over four games at pitcher-friendly Frawley Stadium, but in this set the Rocks held Lynchburg to 12 runs and just two homers. Inside the division the same win-loss ratio rings true. The Blue Crew are 12-35 against the North in 2016, but are a respectable 9-13 versus intra-divisional foes on the road.

Brandon Downes has been living on the base paths over the last six games. The outfielder went 1-for-2 with a walk, a sacrifice fly and a run scored on Wednesday in Lynchburg. He has now hit safely in six straight games and has reached base safely 15 times over that stretch plus swiped five bags. The South Plainfield, NJ native's three-RBI performance on Sunday tied for the third-most in any game this season for him and his 12 free passes during the month of July are the most in any month this season for the UVA product.

Samir Duanez has been a run-producing machine since joining the Blue Rocks at the start of the second half. The first baseman had three more hits and drove in three additional runs over the final two contests in Lynchburg. He has now registered 26 RBI and six homers in just 33 contests as a Blue Rock--far and away the two highest totals in each category by any Wilmington player since the All-Star break. He now has 75 overall RBI in 2016, which leads all Royals Minor Leaguers by double digits.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER JAMIE QUIRK:

"I thought it was Matt (Tenuta's) best start of the year and Charlie (Corbell, the Rocks Pitching Coach) agrees. I thought he attacked real well. That's the best hitting team in the league and that's the kind of ball club that that if you're just sniffing around the plate they'll let you run away and throw pitches. I thought he kept attacking and Charlie has been getting him to use a slider a lot more lately and he used it really well. He only threw like three or four curveballs, which he's been using most of the year and they tightened it up into a slider and I thought it was a big pitch for him and he threw it really well."

"Getting out of that first inning was huge for him. I think for any starting pitcher it is the most important to get some momentum going. He got out of it and got a little breather and then he got on a real good roll. His pitch count was a little lower than normal with where we are in the season and shoot, if he didn't have the pitch count close to where he was he could've kept going for longer pretty easily."

"I think the biggest thing for Chad (Johnson) is rest. I think he's been a little worn out and getting two days off in a row has left him a little fresher. His bat speed was a lot better. It's a grind out there and he's been catching a lot of games back-to-back and having three catchers here has allowed me to get Luis (Villegas) in there for a couple of days and get Chad in there for the third. He's struggled against lefties all year and I didn't want to have him face three lefties, and instead I gave him one and he did a good job with it."

"On that triple he read it real well. IT took a weird carom off the right field wall and went straight across that wall and he just read it good and got in fairly easily really. I don't think I would've had him coming right away but then it caromed and he got it easy."

"Guts. (Jake) Kalish got out of that jam with guts. He wasn't going to give in and he stayed mentally tough. He knew he was in a situation where he had to get it done and he got it done. I call it mental toughness. Your back is against the wall and guys are on base out there and that's where the big guys come through and everyone picks each other up and he was the guy that got it done in a huge moment."

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Carolina League Stories from July 27, 2016


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