CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Two-Out Homers Crush Blue Rocks

Published on September 2, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - A pair of two-out two-run homers in successive late innings paced the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (57-80, 31-36) past the Wilmington Blue Rocks (66-69, 34-31) at Frawley Stadium on Thursday night, 5-4. The Rocks blew a 3-0 lead as reliever Jairo Cuevas (4-9) allowed four scores in three innings including both home runs. The loss guarantees the Blue Rocks of a non-winning season with just three games remaining on their schedule. Also, the Blue Crew's setback combined with a Potomac 10-3 clobbering of Salem to slim the Rocks' tragic number to two. Any combination of Nationals wins or Wilmington losses adding up to two will secure the second-half crown for the P-Nats.

A two-out rally in the fourth gave Wilmington the game's first advantage. With the bases clear, two out and down 0-2 in the count, Wil Myers blooped a single into shallow right-center to get things started. Each of starter Zeke Spruill's next two pitches resulted in extra-base hits. Ernesto Mejia doubled down the right-field line, scoring Myers from first. One pitch later, Nick Francis lined a home run into the visiting bullpen in left for a 3-0 Wilmington lead.

A half-inning later, Luis Sumoza's groundout to second knocked in Samuel Sime to put the Pelicans on the scoreboard. That would prove the only run allowed by southpaw Buddy Baumann, who surrendered just two hits and two walks over his five innings of work, striking out four.

His successor, Cuevas, would not enjoy the same type of success. With a man on and two down in the seventh, the right-hander fell behind nine-hole hitter Braeden Schlehuber. The backstop entered the at-bat 9-for-81 (.111) as a Pelican, and swung at a 3-0 pitch which he belted to left for his second homer of the season and a tie game, 3-3.

Reliever Thomas Berryhill (2-2) entered to start the bottom of the ninth and allowed successive singles to Rey Navarro and Patrick Norris. Adrian Ortiz followed with his league-leading 20th sacrifice of the season to push the runners up with one out.

In response, the league's most tenured manager, Rocket Wheeler, decided to walk Christian Colon to load the bases for Myers, who hit a grand slam just two nights prior.

The gamble worked. Myers' first-pitch contact resulted in a hard grounder, but one that was deftly fielded on a snapping backhanded glove by shortstop Jordan Kreke. The former Eastern Illinois star ignited a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play and the last significant scoring chance the Blue Rocks would have on the night.

In the eighth, Cody Johnson connected for a two-out two-run wall-scraping homer to right off Cuevas that forged a 5-3 Myrtle Beach lead. Francis would smash an impressive moonshot to left-center in the bottom half of the frame to make it 5-4, but the Blue Crew would get no closer. Luis Avilan, who allowed that dinger, gave up no other scores over the final two innings to notch his ninth save including a perfect ninth.

The Blue Rocks open their final series of the regular-season on Saturday evening at 6:05 p.m. Southpaw Will Smith (3-1, 3.02) will get the ball for the Blue Rocks against the first-half Northern Division champion Frederick Keys and right-hander Ryan O'Shea (7-7, 3.58).

The evening includes German Heritage Night and United Way of Delaware Night, along with an appearance by the man who created "The Wave", Krazy George. After the game, all those in attendance will be treated to a fireworks show courtesy of Sun East Federal Credit Union. Gates will open at 5 p.m. For tickets, or more information about the Super-Sized Saturday or All-You-Can-Eat Café packages, call 302-888-BLUE.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The Pelicans put their leadoff man on base six times over the game's final seven innings. Only one of those men scored.

Jairo Cuevas has suffered a losing decision in five of his last six outings, allowing 21 runs in 20.0 innings over that time. He has also surrendered 12 home runs in a span of just 67.2 innings on the season.

Nick Francis became the first Blue Rock to hit two homers in a game twice this season. He leads the team with 15 on the year despite playing in just 82 games due to a suspension that spilled from the end of the 2009 campaign into the start of 2010. Last season, Mike Moustakas became the first Blue Rock to hit 16 homers in a decade.

Earlier in the day, both former first baseman Eric Hosmer and current outfielder Adrian Ortiz received Carolina League year-end All-Star accolades.

Patrick Norris' seventh-inning single came on a bunt for his team-leading 20th infield hit of the year.

Over his last six starts, Buddy Baumann has gone just 1-0 despite a 1.61 ERA. In six appearances (two starts) against the Pelicans, Baumann logged a 1.96 ERA, .188 batting average against and a 0.98 WHIP.

Wilmington finished the year just 9-11 against a Myrtle Beach team that boasts the CL's worst overall record. The Rocks did win more than they lost against the Pelicans at home, going 6-4 in the meetings at Frawley Stadium.

Seven of the game's nine runs came on two-out hits. That included a homer on a 3-0 pitch. The aggressive Pelicans swung at four 3-0 pitches on the series.

Not only did Potomac pound on Salem, but the former Blue Rock Jamar Walton yet again did a lot of the heavy lifting. The Virginia native went 3-for-5 in the rout with a double, a homer, three RBIs and two runs scored. After just reaching the Mendoza line exactly in his final Blue Rocks game, Walton has hit .375 with 10 RBIs and a .950 OPS in 11 games with Wilmington's nemesis.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from September 2, 2010


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