CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Blue Rocks Game Notes

Published on June 29, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


ROCKS DROP FOURTH STRAIGHT: Wilmington dropped its fourth consecutive game in a 4-2 loss to the Salem Red Sox Saturday night at Salem Memorial Ballpark. Jantzen Witte gave the Red Sox a 2-0 first-inning lead when he ripped a two-run homer to left off of Jonathan Dziedzic. Salem then extended its lead to 4-0 with single tallies in the second and the fifth. The Blue Crew scored twice in the sixth but that was all they managed to push across. With the defeat, the Rocks fell to 37-41 overall and 4-6 in the second half.

BACK IN THE HIT COLUMN: Wilmington's hitless streak was finally snapped at 22.1 innings Saturday night in Salem. Prior to Daniel Rockett's two-out single in the second inning Saturday, the Blue Rocks' most recent base hit had been Michael Antonio's one-out double in the seventh inning of Wednesday's series opener against the Lynchburg Hillcats. The Hillcats no-hit the Blue Crew in back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday, the first time in franchise history Wilmington had been no-hit in consecutive contests. According to Brad Myers of The News Journal, no team had accomplished this at any professional level since August 5-6, 1972, when Quebec held Pawtucket hitless in back-to-back games. MiLB.com's Danny Wild reported that, prior to this week, no team had ever thrown a no- hitter on back-to-back days in the long history of the Carolina League. However, on May 15, 1966, Rocky Mount did no-hit Greensboro in both ends of a doubleheader. Each of those games was a seven-inning affair. The Blue Rocks had never been held hitless twice in the same season before, either. Lucas Sims and Alex Wilson split the load for Lynchburg on Thursday while Cody Scarpetta and Benino Pruneda shared Friday's feat. In each contest, the starter hurled seven frames and the reliever threw two.

BACK ON THE SCOREBOARD: When Bubba Starling scored in the sixth inning Saturday night, he helped snap the Blue Rocks' 18.1-inning scoreless streak, which was a season high. The Blue Crew's most recent run had been a single tally in the fifth inning of the first Lynchburg no-hitter on Thursday. Jack Lopez drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Daniel Rockett then reached on an error by shortstop Daniel Castro. The miscue also allowed Lopez to advance to third. Terrance Gore's RBI fielder's choice plated Lopez. The team's previous season high of 14.1 straight frames without a tally was established over a three-game stretch between April 12 and April 14 against the Winston- Salem Dash. Wilmington did not score in the final frame of its 4-0 win over the Dash on April 12. Winston-Salem then shut the Rocks out, 1-0, on April 13, bringing the total to 10 straight innings without a run. On April 14, the Blue Crew broke a scoreless tie 4.1 frames into the contest. They won that game 3-1.

BULLPEN BOUNCEBACK: Aroni Nina and Daniel Stumpf combined to throw three perfect innings in relief of starter Jonathan Dziedzic on Saturday. Nina turned in perhaps his best outing of the season. The right-hander struck out four over his two innings of work and did not walk a batter. He is 2-0 this season with a 5.34 ERA in 13 games. Nina has struck out 29 and walked 23 in 26.2 innings pitched this year. Stumpf turned in his third consecutive outing without allowing a run. In three games between June 6 and June 19, the southpaw yielded nine runs, all of them earned, on nine hits over 3.1 innings. In three appearances since then, his only blemish is a base on balls he issued on June 22. Stumpf has posted a 2-7 record and 4.76 ERA in 17 games (eight starts). He has punched out 54 and issued just 13 free passes in 51 innings. As a whole, the Blue Crew 'pen has been one of the team's strengths this season. Wilmington's relievers have posted a combined 16-11 record and 3.02 ERA in 265.1 innings pitched. They have struck out 245 and issued just 87 free passes.

STAR OF THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE: Wilmington Blue Rocks pitcher Christian Binford was named to the U.S. roster for the 15th annual All-Star Futures Game, which will kick off the MLB All-Star festivities in Minnesota on Sunday, July 14. Binford is the lone representative from the Blue Rocks and the Kansas City Royals system, and will take his place among the game's most prominent prospects in the showcase event of the season for Minor League Baseball. Binford has put together a dominant season with Wilmington. The 21-year-old is 5-3 with a 2.35 ERA in 13 Advanced-A starts this year. He ranks top-five in the Carolina League in ERA, WHIP (1.02), strikeouts per nine innings pitched (9.98) and fewest baserunners per nine innings pitched (9.39). He was named a C.L. All-Star earlier in the month and has been named the eight-team league's Pitcher of the Week three times.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER DARRYL KENNEDY: "That was a tough streak to go through right there. I think it really took a lot out of the kids the last couple of nights. Then we start out tonight and we get [through] the first [inning] and still no hits. You could tell it was weighing on them. Then we finally got the hit and they kind of relaxed. Overall, I thought we swung the bats okay today. [It was a] pretty good ballgame, just [Jonathan] Dziedzic wasn't as sharp tonight. It's kind of like starting all over. We've just got to build from today and move on...It was a big burden off their shoulders [to get that first hit], no doubt. The funny thing is, out of all of this, in the second half we're only 4-6. After everything we went through, it's still early enough in the half we can turn thing around, no doubt...[Aroni] Nina came in aggressive with the fastball and was able to locate. And then he had the good curveball going today. That really locked him up. [Daniel Stumpf] came in there. [He's] had his troubles, but looked very good today. [He was] down in the zone consistently and showed something good. It's good to get those guys back going. The bullpen has kind of been beaten up here lately. It was nice to see those two guys come in [and do well]."

THEY SAID IT, STARTING PITCHER JONATHAN DZIEDZIC: "The first batter, I started out pretty good. I felt like I had a pretty good feel and then I was just kind of battling tonight with command of the off-speed [stuff]. I thought the fastball was okay. Overall, I was really battling to get through five innings. At the same time, I didn't think it was great but it wasn't awful either. You're going to have some of those games. It's just baseball. You've got to battle through some of the tough ones and move forward."

Today's Starters

WIL: RHP Christian Binford (5-3, 2.35)

vs.

SAL: RHP Pat Light (1-4, 7.01)

Christian Binford, the No. 10 prospect in the Kansas City Royals organization according to Baseball America, is best known for his pinpoint command on the mound. Binford has issued only 11 free passes across his 13 starts this season and has not walked a batter in eight of them, including his last four starts. The 6-foot-6 righty owns five of Wilmington's seven starts of seven innings in length this season and has won three Carolina League Pitcher of the Week awards due to his prowess on the mound. In his most recent start on June 23 in Frederick, Binford was fantastic and yielded three runs on eight hits over 6.2 strong innings of work. He struck out six en route to picking up his fifth win of the season. His body of work this season has been phenomenal. Binford owns a 5-3 record and a 2.35 ERA while striking out a league-leading 85 in 76.2 innings pitched. Those numbers are good enough to have earned him a nod to the Carolina League All-Star Team. Lefties are batting just .218 against Binford while righties are hitting .239. He makes his 14th start of the campaign Sunday night at Salem Memorial Ballpark and his second against the Red Sox. The first time he faced Salem, on May 14, Binford gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits over five innings pitched. He punched out six and did not walk a batter but took the loss. Binford, who was a 30th round draft pick in 2011, has a fastball that sits between 88 and 93 miles-per-hour according to scouts. By signing with the Royals, he turned down a chance to play collegiately at the University of Virginia.

The Boston Red Sox selected Pat Light No. 37 overall in the First Round of the 2012 Draft. Light played collegiately at Monmouth University and is the highest draft pick in school history. As a junior at Monmouth in 2012, the righty set the single-season school record with 102 strikeouts. He was also named the 2012 New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Pitcher of the Year and a third-team Louisville Slugger All-American. After signing in 2012, Light dominated the New York-Penn League with an 0-2 record and a 2.37 ERA in 12 starts. However, the 6-foot-5 right-hander is looking to rebound after a rough first full pro season in 2013 and difficult start to 2014. A hamstring injury limited Light to just 34.1 innings pitched last season, when he went 1-4 with a 7.34 ERA. Light began the 2014 campaign at Low-A Greenville, where he posted a respectable 2-0 record and a 4.15 ERA in three starts. Following his promotion to Advanced-A Salem, though, Light has struggled mightily to the tune of a 1-4 record and a 7.01 ERA in 11 starts, yielding 43 runs and 68 hits over 51.1 innings pitched. Last time out on June 24, Light gave up seven runs on 10 hiits and two walks over 2.1 innings pitched against the Potomac Nationals. He has faced the Blue Rocks once this year, on May 6, and yielded just two runs (one earned) on four hits across five solid frames.

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Carolina League Stories from June 29, 2014


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