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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Blue Rocks Game Notes: August 5, 2014

August 5, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


THREE-RUN FREDERICK EIGHTH SINKS ROCKS: The Frederick Keys scored three times in the eighth inning off of Andrew Edwards to come from behind and beat the Wilmington Blue Rocks, 5-4, on Sunday evening at Frawley Stadium. Wilmington now sits at 20-21 in the second half and 53-56 overall. The Rocks are tied with the Lynchburg Hillcats for second place in the CL North, three games behind the first-place Potomac Nationals.

SPARKPLUG ON THE MOUND: Glenn Sparkman was excellent again for Wilmington on Sunday, tossing five strong innings. The right-hander was tremendous throughout and yielded just two runs (one earned) on four hits while fanning five. Sparkman did not walk a batter and took a no-decision. On the season, Sparkman is 6-2 with a sparkling 1.46 ERA, which places him atop the Carolina League leaderboard. The 6-foot-2 hurler has given up 71 hits and 17 walks while striking out 86 in 92.1 innings pitched. Righties are batting just .226 against Sparkman while lefties are hitting a mere .191 against him. Sparkman began the campaign in the bullpen and was excellent there. He went 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA in 11 relief appearances while striking out 27 and walking seven in 23.2 innings pitched. After getting shifted to the starting rotation, Sparkman has been even better. As a starter, he is 4-1 with a 1.18 ERA in 13 outings. He has punched out 59 and issued 10 bases on balls in 68.2 innings pitched as a starter.

EVANS COMING AROUND: Zane Evans stayed hot on Sunday, blooping an RBI single to left in the fifth inning. It was responsible for Wilmington's fourth and final run of the frame. The right-handed hitting backstop finished the evening 1-for-4 at the plate. Evans entered Wednesday night's contest in Lynchburg mired in a 3-for-29 slump but has since broken through and recorded at least one hit in five consecutive contests. During that stretch, he is batting a combined .350 (7-for-20). In the month of August, Evans is now hitting .308 (4-for-13) with a run, a homer and three RBIs. Overall this year, Evans is hitting .231 with 27 runs, 18 doubles, three homers and 27 RBIs.

RARE LATE-GAME LOSS: Sunday's loss to Frederick was just the third of the season for the Blue Rocks when leading at the end of seven innings. Wilmington is now 40-3 when they take an advantage into the eighth. Conversely, when they trail at the end of the eighth frame, the Blue Crew is just 8-44 on the campaign. The Rocks' success when leading late is in large part due to the ballclub's outstanding bullpen. Prior to his promotion to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Mark Peterson was 1-2 with a 1.31 ERA in 33 appearances. He nailed down 22 of his 24 save tries this year. His replacement in the closer's role, Kyle Bartsch, has also been excellent in 2014. He is 5-5 with a 2.74 ERA in 32 appearances. Bartsch is 2-for-3 in save opportunities and was charged with a tough- luck blown save on Sunday. He entered the contest with runners at second and third base and one away. Despite the fact that Bartsch allowed no baserunners, both inherited runners scored thanks to an RBI groundout to second and a wild pitch. Collectively, the Wilmington 'pen has posted a 26-20 record to go along with a 2.99 ERA in 373.1 innings pitched. Blue Crew relievers have given up 319 hits, fanned 336 and walked just 109.

ROCKS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH RUNNERS ON BASE: Wilmington's struggles with runners on base and in scoring position reared their head again in Sunday's 5-4 loss against the Frederick Keys. The Blue Rocks stranded a total of seven runners on base, including three in scoring position. The Rocks also finished the night 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. During the three-game series against the Keys, Wilmington left 23 runners on base and went 5-for-26 (.192) with runners in scoring position. On the campaign, the Blue Rocks have now stranded 725 total runners on base. Wilmington's opponents have left just 642 runners on base. They have batted a combined .222 (212-for- 953) with runners in scoring position on the season.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER DARRYL KENNEDY: "I think we looked at what [Glenn Sparkman] was doing in the bullpen [when deciding to put him in the rotation]. He was throwing all of his pitches for strikes. His arm works good, he's effortless out there, it's not a taxing delivery. We wanted to see what [him starting] would look like and it's turned out very good...Out of the bullpen he was more fastball-slider, now he's added his curveball back that he threw in college. It's been big for him. He was a starter in college and we knew he through a curveball. Once we put him back in the rotation we got the curveball going again...The eighth inning killed us. You've got to give them credit; they got three big hits and put us in a tough situation. We got a big strikeout for the first one and then got a ground ball for the second one and then that wild pitch just got past [Cam] Gallagher who usually blocks them all the time. It was a tough pitch. It was 0-2 and we were trying to bury it and just didn't catch a break there...I don't think [Andrew Edwards was tired] because that [long relief] was his role down there in Lexington. He was a starter to begin the year and then moved to more of a 3-4 inning guy, so I don't think he was tired I just think they put some good swings on him."

THEY SAID IT, STARTING PITCHER GLENN SPARKMAN: "I think [moving to the rotation] really affected me because I can get a lot more work on my pitches. Out of the 'pen you just go out there and throw. You already know what your pitches do but you get more work at it as a starter...My fastball wasn't really there for me but my off-speed was really helping me out today. I got a lot of groundouts and flyouts." Today's Starters

WIL: LHP Jonathan Dziedzic (5-5, 2.48)

vs.

MB: LHP Chad James (2-1, 4.91)

Lefty Jonathan Dziedzic has been one of Wilmington's best starting pitchers in 2014. The southpaw takes the mound on Tuesday for his 20th start of the campaign and will look to pick up his sixth win. Dziedzic has struck out 90 batters in 98 innings pitched this season while delivering a 2.48 ERA and a 5-5 record. His ERA ranks third in the Carolina League. The crafty lefty has been better within the pitcher-friendly confines of Frawley Stadium than on the road. He is 3-3 with a miniscule 1.57 ERA in eight starts at home and 2-2 with a 3.29 ERA in 11 outings on the road. Left-handed hitters are batting .275 against Dziedzic, while righties are hitting .242. Those spectacular overall numbers earned Dziedzic a spot on the 2014 Carolina League All-Star Team. His most recent start came on July 30 at City Stadium in Lynchburg against the Hillcats. Dziedzic struggled in that contest, allowing one run, but giving up three hits and five walks in three innings pitched. His best start of the year was on July 18 at Pfitzner Stadium against the Potomac Nationals, That night, Dziedzic tossed seven shutout frames while yielding just four hits and one walk. He also struck out three. In the month of July, his best of the season, Dziedzic had no record, but a sparkling 1.04 ERA in five starts. Dziedzic, who is Lamar University's all-time strikeouts leader, was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 13th Round of the 2013 Draft. He was also taken by the Boston Red Sox in the 37th round of the 2012 Draft, but elected to return to school. As a high school senior, Dziedzic threw a no-hitter.

Chad James was once a highly-regarded prospect in the Marlins organization. They selected him No. 18 overall in the First Round of the 2009 Draft. James' best season as a pro came back in 2011, when he played for Advanced-A Jupiter in the Florida State League. With Jupiter that season, he went 5-15 but posted a 3.80 ERA and struck out 124 in 27 starts. However, he also walked 51 in 149.1 innings pitched. It has been a struggle since then, for the 23-year-old southpaw. Aside from the 2011 season, he has never had an ERA below 4.87 in five professional campaigns. James was released by the Marlins at the end of Spring Training back in March. He made nine starts for the Evansville Otters in the independent Frontier League prior to hooking on with the Rangers. With the Otters, he was 4-2 with a 5.05 ERA. Since signing with the Rangers and joining the Pelicans, James is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA in three starts. He has fanned eight and walked 10 in 14.2 innings pitched. In his last start for the Pelicans, on July 28 at Potomac, James hurled five solid frames and picked up the win. He yielded just two runs on three hits but walked six.

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