CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Blue Rocks Game Notes: July 24, 2014

Published on July 24, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


BACK IN FIRST PLACE: Michael Antonio's sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning broke a 6-6 deadlock and helped the Wilmington Blue Rocks to a 7-6 victory over the Carolina Mudcats at Five County Stadium on Wednesday night. With the victory, Wilmington moved back to an even .500 overall at 50-50 and improved to 17-15 in the second half. The Rocks now sit atop the CL North standings, a half-game ahead of the Potomac Nationals.

SECOND-HALF STAR: Bubba Starling stayed scorching hot on Wednesday, turning in a 4-for-5 performance. The talented outfielder fell a homer shy of the cycle, scored three runs and drove in two. He now has a hit in five straight games. Over that span, Starling is batting .524 (11-for-21) with six runs, a double, a triple, a homer, five RBIs and three walks. Starling's four- hit night Wednesday was his first of the season. It was also his 16th multi-hit game. Starling's four-hit game was just the second of his career. On June 16 last season, he went 5-for-5 against the Asheville Tourists while playing for the Lexington Legends. That night, Starling had one double and one RBI. He also stole a base. After batting just .184 with a .278 on-base percentage in the first half, Starling has turned things around completely in the second half. Since the All- Star Break, he is hitting .311 with four doubles, two triples, four homers, 17 RBIs, eight walks and four stolen bases. Starling is also reaching base at a .369 clip in the second half.

SPARKMAN SPARKLES AGAIN: Glenn Sparkman was excellent again for Wilmington on Wednesday, hurling five solid frames. The right-hander was in and out of trouble throughout the contest and did allow four runs. However, all of the tallies he yielded were unearned. He yielded four hits and two walks while striking out four. The righty took a no-decision, however, after Carolina tied the contest in the sixth inning. On the season, Sparkman is 6-2 and his ERA dropped to a sparkling 1.34, which places him firmly atop the Carolina League leaderboard. The 6-foot-2 right-hander has given up 62 hits and 17 walks while striking out 74 in 80.1 innings pitched. Righties are batting just .231 against Sparkman while lefties are hitting a mere .185 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 0.95 ERA in 11 outings. He has fanned 47 and issued 10 bases on balls in 56.2 frames as a starting pitcher.

BONUS BASEBALL BOUNCEBACK: Wednesday's extra-inning affair marked a rare instance this season of the Blue Rocks playing bonus baseball. It was just the sixth time in 2014 that the Rocks have played additional frames. With Wednesday's win, Wilmington is now 3-3 in extra-inning games. Wilmington's first extra-inning game of the year came on May 23 and Kenny Diekroeger lifted the Blue Crew to a walk-off win with an RBI single that night against the Keys. Each of the Rocks' next two extra-inning contests was an eight-inning affair in the back end of a doubleheader. On June 10, the Rocks lost on a walk-off home run in Winston- Salem and on June 13, Carolina pulled ahead for good with back-to-back doubles in the top of the eighth. Wilmington's most recent extra-inning affairs came on July 16 at Potomac. The Rocks lost both ends of the twin-bill that day in extras and in walk-off fashion. The second game was completed on July 17 after getting suspended in the sixth due to rain.

ROCKS' DOMINANCE OF MUDCATS CONTINUES: Wilmington has played extremely well against the Carolina Mudcats in 2014. After Wednesday night's 7-6 victory, the Rocks own a 14-5 record against Carolina. They are 7-3 at Frawley Stadium and 7-2 at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, North Carolina. In their 19 matchups this season, the Rocks are outscoring the Mudcats, 89-53. Collectively, the Blue Rocks are batting .252 against the Mudcats while Carolina is hitting .239 against Wilmington. The Rocks own a better head-to- head ERA, with the Blue Crew sporting a 2.43 ERA compared with the Mudcats' 4.20 ERA. Blue Rocks pitching has fanned 155 Mudcats while Carolina pitching has punched out 143 Blue Crew hitters. Three of Wilmington's league-best 11 shutouts have come against the Mudcats. The Rocks' current series against the Mudcats in Zebulon, North Carolina, is the final regular season meeting between the two clubs.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER DARRYL KENNEDY: "I thought we battled all night long and did a very good job of manufacturing some runs when we had to. It was a big win. We come out, we score a run in the first inning and these guys fight right back. We made a couple of mistakes in the first inning but they still fight back and get two runs, go up. We tie it up and we take the lead again. 6-4, everybody is feeling pretty good about the rest of the night. Then they score two more and tie it up. Then we go extra innings. I applaud the guys for battling all night long and really coming through. [Kyle] Bartsch did a great job coming in a situation there against the lefty. You check the stats and the guy is hitting .330 against left-handed pitching. I felt like Bartsch was the guy to do it and we ended up getting out of that inning and going on to get the big win...Every game is important. [Thursday] is going to be important because we're facing [Ryan] Merritt, who is leading the league in pitching. With these two games, we've gotten into their bullpen a little bit. We know they're short a bit going into tomorrow. If we can get to Merritt [Thursday] and get him out early, I like our chances." THEY SAID IT, OUTFIELDER BUBBA STARLING: "Confidence is a big key right now. I'm feeling good up there and swinging at good pitches. Like I told everyone, I'm not trying to do way too much. I'm just going out each game and trying to get one hit and then, after that, just going from there and battling up at the plate...I really couldn't tell you. We always come here and play these guys and do well against them. It's funny, because I feel like we kind of dominate these guys but then sometimes we can't beat Lynchburg but these guys dominate Lynchburg. It's just weird. That's baseball for you, though...We've faced [Ryan Merritt] three or four times this year. He's got great numbers but I feel we do pretty well against guys like that. We just need to go out and keep swinging like we have been. [Jonathan] Dziedzic, he's been solid all year, so I feel like we have a good opportunity to sweep."

Today's Starters

WIL: LHP Jonathan Dziedzic (5-5, 2.60)

vs.

CAR: LHP Ryan Merritt (10-3, 2.13)

Lefty Jonathan Dziedzic has been one of Wilmington's best starting pitchers in 2014. The southpaw takes the mound on Thursday for his 18th start of the campaign and will look to pick up his sixth win. Dziedzic has struck out 82 batters in 90 innings pitched this season while delivering a 2.60 ERA and a 5-5 record. His ERA ranks fifth 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 1.76 ERA in seven starts at home and 2-2 with a 3.31 ERA in 10 outings on the road. Left-handed hitters are batting .288 against Dziedzic, while righties are hitting .247. Those spectacular overall numbers earned Dziedzic a spot on the 2014 Carolina League All-Star Team. His most recent start came on July 18 at Pfitzner Stadium against the Potomac Nationals. The southpaw turned in his best start of the year that night and tossed seven shutout frames while yielding just four hits and one walk. He struck out three that night.

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.

Southpaw Ryan Merritt takes the mound Thursday for the Carolina Mudcats at Five County Stadium. Merritt currently sports a 10-3 record and a pristine 2.13 ERA. The left-hander has allowed just 34 runs (28 earned) this season, while holding opposing batters to a paltry .201 batting average. Last time out, on July 19 at Myrtle Beach, Merritt allowed two runs on four htis over 6.2 outstanding innings. He fanned nine and did not walk a batter. Merritt has faced the Blue Rocks twice this year. He owns a 2-1 record and a 2.66 ERA in three starts against the Blue Crew. Merritt has punched out 14, issued three free passes and give up 17 hits across 20.1 innings pitched when facing Wilmington. ndians' vice president of player development Ross Atkins told Cleveland.com this spring,"...His fastball command is as good as anybody in our minor-league sys- tem...He's extremely athletic and he's developing second and third pitches, and he's effective with those pitches." The left-hander is a native of McKinney, Texas, and attended McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. The Indians selected Merritt with their 16th Round pick in the 2011 Draft.

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