Sports stats



CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Blue Rocks Drop Series Finale 3-1

April 13, 2016 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - It was a struggle to get going for the Wilmington Blue Rocks (1-5) offense, but just as things looked as if they were taking a turn for the better, a fluke play stopped the comeback bid dead in its tracks. Trailing the Carolina Mudcats 2-1 in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and two outs, Ryan O'Hearn ripped a 3-2 offering into the hole between first and second. However, the batted ball struck Robert Pehl for the third out of the inning and the Blue Rocks could never recover, eventually losing 3-1.

Zach Lovvorn (0-2) started opening day and took the loss and was looking to right the ship in the game that started at 10:37 a.m. on Wednesday. Lovvorn was much more solid this time out, but gave up two runs in the top of the second inning on three straight hits and a two out RBI single by Omar Obregon. That put the Mudcats up by a pair with Ryan Lawlor (0-1) out on the mound and Lawlor was almost untouchable early.

Lawlor used an array of offspeed pitched and a well located fastball to keep the Blue Rocks bats off balance, and hold them off of the scoreboard through the first four innings. They Blue Crew finally cracked Lawlor in the fifth when Alfredo Escalera singled to begin the frame. While leading off of first base, Lawlor tried to pick off Escalera, but the throw got away and Escalera ended the play at third base. That proved easy enough to Wander Franco who lifted a ball to center, deep enough to score Escalera and cutting the deficit down to 2-1.

Austin Bailey and Luis Villegas immediately followed with singles to try and resume the rally for the home team. After a popout by Corey Toups, Pehl worked a walk to load the bases, setting the scene for O'Hearn who was 1-for-1 with a double and a hit by pitch up until that point. O'Hearn got ahead in the count 3-1 off of Lawlor and swung through the next pitch before ripping the payoff offering off of Pehl. If the ball did not hit Pehl, the ball would have gone into right field and with the runners off on the pitch, probably would have scored the runner from second, giving the Blue Rocks the lead. Instead, it counted as the third run of the inning and ended the threat.

The Mudcats padded their lead in the seventh off of Josh Staumont thanks to some small ball. Joseph Daris led off with a double before being moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. He came in to score on a suicide squeeze off of the bat of Keith Curcio for a 3-1 advantage. The Blue Rocks tried to mount rallies in both the eighth and ninth innings, but two separate 6-3 double play balls turned by Dansby Swanson stopped any chance of a comeback and the Blue Rocks ended the home stand 1-5 thanks to the 3-1 defeat.

Thursday will mark the first time on the season that the Blue Rocks will be on the road. They head off to Potomac for a four game series with the first pitch of the first game scheduled for 7:05 p.m. RHP Pedro Fernandez (0-0, 2.80) will go for the Blue Rocks against pitcher to be announced for Potomac. Fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM or BlueRocks.com. For tickets, please call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com

Pebbles of Knowledge

Ryan O'Hearn is on a tear as of late. He came into the game on a four game hitting streak and went 3-for-3 with a double and a hit by pitch on Wednesday to push the hitting streak to five games. He now has eleven hits in his last 19 at bats with three doubles, a run scored and two walks. If not for his hit in the fifth hitting Robert Pehl, O'Hearn could have added two RBI to his total, which currently stands at three. Alfredo Escalera extended his on base streak to five straight games with a single in the fifth inning and came around to score later in the frame. He added a double in the sixth inning for his first multi-hit game of the season and is still getting on base at better than a .400 clip.

While O'Hearn and Escalera continued to get on base, putting the ball in play has been a problem for practically the entire rest of the roster for the Blue Rocks. They struck out 38 times through the first three games of the homestand against Potomac and although they did not accrue ten plus strikeouts in any of the games against Carolina, they did add 22 more strikeouts to their total during the most recent three game set. They struck out four times on Monday, nine on Tuesday and another nine on Wednesday for a season total of 60 through the first six games.

Josh Staumont struggled with control in his first outing of the season back on April 8 against Potomac, but in his first appearance since then was strong out of the bullpen for the Blue Rocks. He had trouble locating the strike zone the first time out and issued four walks, but was in control on the mound on Wednesday, going four innings and walking just one while striking out five and ceding a lone run. He now has 12 strikeouts on the year, which is best on the Blue Rocks staff.

It is true the Blue Rocks staff has allowed more than their fair share of baserunners onto the basepaths in the early portion of the season, but they have done more than enough to try and rectify that situation. The Blue Crew arms picked off five Potomac Nationals in the first three games of the homestand, including one every game. That trend continued on Monday with another pickoff against Carolina before stopping on Tuesday. However, it picked right back up again on Wednesday when Tim Hill picked off Joseph Daris in the ninth inning, now giving the Blue Rocks seven total pick offs on the year.

They Said It

Blue Rocks Managers Jamie Quirk

"I was very happy with the pitching today. (Zach) Lovvorn, (Josh) Staumont, and (Tim) Hill all did a good job. It was much needed. Staumont was really our only guy to go to today for multiple innings. We kind of have him on a piggy back thing a little bit and he gave us exactly what we needed. Lovvorn did a nice job. Once again we're working out of pitch counts and we've got to keep them in their area. We'd like them to go a little bit deeper, but second start out he did a nice job. I was real happy after yesterday because we only had one base on ball today. They did a nice job."

"That was the turning point in the game when (Robert) Pehl got hit. That would've put us up 3-2 cause we had bases loaded 3-2 count, they're running on the play and they definitely would've scored two to pout us up 3-2. That was unfortunate and you don't see that too often. He hit the ball hard and right off Pehl and then inning over... That's a rare deal and you don't see it very often. You can't avoid it. He hit a bullet and the runners were going so what are you going to do. It was nice to see him hit the ball hard. "

"We have to get better at all phases. We're not where we want to be yet. The pitching has let us down days and the hitting has let us down days. We've got to cut down our strikeouts and we have to be more competitive at the plate. I believe our guys our better than this, but we've got too many guys in a row that are having strikeout at bats. We have to put the ball in play more and just make things happen... it's about letting them get their feel. Some guys are new to High-A and they just need to settle in. I don't anticipate this being a long term thing, and they have to be intelligent aggressive. I just don't want them to swing to swing, but they have to do something with it when they get into the hitters counts."

"This early in the season these early games aren't too bad. They're coming right out of Spring Training where they have to wake up at 6 a.m. so it's not too bad. When we have them later in the year when we have nothing but night games, it's a little more of a challenge, but this early in the year it isn't too bad."

Blue Rocks First Baseman Ryan O'Hearn

"I thought that ball that hit Robert (Pehl) was going through, and it's nobody's fault, that's just something that happens. You control it. You think you've seen everything and experienced everything and then you don't, it's something different... That ball would've scored one run if not two. Just a tough break. We didn't have too many opportunities to score today and that would've been a good one to take advantage of."

"That's just baseball. Sometimes we're gonna be red hot putting up ten runs a game and then other times it's gonna be like this. You just have to deal with it and keep putting up quality at bats as a team and just do your job. We had guys in scoring position and were trying to drive them in, but it is what it is. We'll be alright. Tough homestand, tough first homestand where not a lot went our way, but we'll be back at it."

"I've been trying to stay to the middle of field. They've had that shift on me and pitching away a lot so there's no sense in trying to pull it. I'm just trying to go with the ball and go the other way... hit it where it's pitched and not worry about the shift... There are certain opportunities and situations where you might try to bunt, but other than that I just stick with my approach."

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics



Carolina League Stories from April 13, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central