CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Blue Rocks Game Notes

Published on July 1, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


ROCKS DROP SIXTH STRAIGHT: It took more than nine innings to decide Wilmington's series finale with the Salem Red Sox. With the game tied, 5-5, in the bottom of the 10th inning, Ryan Dent ripped a walk-off two-run homer to left to hand the Red Sox a 7-5 win and the Blue Rocks their sixth consecutive defeat. It's the Rocks' longest losing streak of the campaign and the setback left them a season-worst six games below .500 overall (37-43, 4-8).

SWITCHING THINGS UP: Raul Mondesi batted second Monday for the first time this season. It was also the first time Mondesi had started a game and not hit in the leadoff spot in 2014. Mondesi went 1-for-4 with a run, a walk and a stolen base Monday. On the season, he is batting .219 with seven doubles, five triples, a homer and 12 RBIs in 56 games. Jack Lopez hit in the leadoff spot the last two nights and recorded a pair of hits in each contest. He was 2-for-2 with three walks on Sunday and 2-for-5 with a double on Monday. Lopez has been Wilmington's leadoff hitter 23 times this season and is batting .247 with four doubles and two RBIs atop the Blue Rocks' lineup. On the season, he is hitting .227 with 13 doubles, a homer and 17 RBIs.

BONUS BASEBALL BLUES: Monday's extra-inning affair marked a rare instance this season of the Blue Rocks playing bonus baseball. It was just the fifth time in 2014 that the Rocks have played additional frames. With Monday's loss to the Red Sox, Wilmington is now 2-3 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 contest had been on June 22, when Bubba Starling hit a go-ahead homer in the top of the 10th at Frederick to give the Blue Rocks a 2-1 win.

MIGHTY MIGUEL: Miguel Almonte threw another gem for the Blue Rocks on Monday against the Red Sox. The right-hander left the game after 6.1 sterling frames. He yielded three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four. It was the talented hurler's sixth quality start of the season and Almonte's third time completing more than six innings in a game. On the season, he has posted a 5-3 record to go along with a 4.17 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 14 starts. Almonte has yielded 70 hits and 22 walks across 77.2 frames on the mound. He left the game Monday with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning. Blue Rocks closer Mark Peterson replaced him and induced a double-play grounder to short to end the threat.

MONTH IN REVIEW: Monday's loss to Salem marked the end of an up-and-down month of June for the Blue Rocks. Wilmington began the month by losing five out of its first seven games and finished the month on a six-game losing streak. The Blue Rocks also went on a tear after the All-Star Break, putting together a four-game winning streak between June 21 and June 24. During that stretch, Wilmington took the series finale in Myrtle Beach before earning its first series sweep of the season in Frederick. Between June 21 and June 25, the Blue Crew hit home runs in a season-high five consecutive games. The low point of the month came on June 26 and June 27, when Lynchburg threw back-to-back no-hitters against the Blue Rocks. Wilmington finished June with a record of 10-16 after going 10-13 in April and 17-14 in May. The team hit .223 with 103 runs, 37 doubles, seven triples, 17 home runs and 90 RBIs in June. On the mound, Blue Rocks pitchers posted a 3.91 ERA and allowed 216 hits while striking out 172 and walking 64 in 221 innings pitched. The Rocks were outscored 114-103 in June.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER DARRYL KENNEDY: "We're definitely going through some tough times, no doubt. Like I told the guys, just keep playing [and] keep battling. Things have got to get better, no doubt. They've got to get better. We just made too many mistakes. [They were] little mistakes that most people don't see but we do. Those are the things we've got to cut down on. We've got work to do and we've just got to keep plugging along...If something is going to go wrong, it's going wrong right now. Cam Gallagher has been solid all year and he throws a ball into center field on a stolen base that ties a ballgame. It's little things like that, that are getting us right now. That's baseball; you go through these times. The biggest thing is this is something that we've got to build. We've got to learn from it and we've got to build on it. Every team in baseball goes through tough times. It's a matter of how we react and take the opportunity going forward. That's all I can look for right now, is how we're going to react to it...[Mark Peterson] did a really good job bailing [Miguel] Almonte out. We take the lead and they got to him. That's going to happen. [Peterson] is in a situation that he's not normally in and made a couple of pitches that they hit. You've got to tip your hat to them. They did a great job of battling back. I didn't want [Peterson] to go too far after they tied the ballgame and that's why I brought in [Daniel Stumpf], so we've got [Peterson] available for tomorrow. You've got to give some credit to Salem. They battled all night. We were up, 3-0; they come back, make it close and tie it up. You've got to tip your hat to them a little bit."

THEY SAID IT, INFIELDER JARED SCHLEHUBER: "You've got to keep coming to the field every day and work hard. Baseball is a funny game. You go through stretches like that. Offensively, obviously, we haven't really been swinging the bats all that well. We're pitching it pretty good. It's just one of those stretches that happen every time and the good thing about it is there's always a reverse stretch where we go and run off a couple of wins...It is [nice to go home]. You get a chance to sleep in your own bed, have a more comfortable routine and have a little bit of extra time and batting practice. It'll be good to go home for these next three."

Today's Starters

WIL: RHP Luis Santos (0-1, 8.37)

vs.

SAL: LHP Matthew Spann (5-2, 3.99)

Right-hander Luis Santos makes his sixth Wilmington Blue Rocks start Tuesday night against the Potomac Nationals. Last time out, he struggled mightily in a brief two-inning outing against the Lynchburg Hillcats. Santos allowed seven runs on nine hits across those two frames of work. In his first start for the Blue Rocks, against the Frederick Keys on May 31, he took a no-hitter into the sixth and allowed two runs across six excellent frames. Santos began the campaign with Low-A Lexington and put up stellar numbers for the Legends prior to his promotion to the Blue Rocks. With Lexington, he was 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA in nine appearances (six starts). He struck out 34 and walked just five while yielding only 33 hits in 46 innings pitched. Santos was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 18, 2011. He spent 2011 with the Dominican Pirates and had a 2-1 record and 2.70 ERA. In 2012, Santos split time between the Dominican Pirates 1 and the Dominican Pirates 2. The six-foot hurler was traded from the Pirates organization to the Kansas City Royals organization on November 28, 2012. He was sent to the Royals along with lefty Luis Rico in exchange for right-hander Vin Mazzaro and first-baseman Clint Robinson. Santos made his North American debut in 2013, spending half of the year with Rookie-Level Burlington and half with Rookie- Level Idaho Falls. He posted a combined 7-1 record and 1.97 ERA between the two levels while striking out 47 and walking 14 in 59.1 innings pitched.

Southpaw Matthew Spann began his career in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. He was selected in the 25th round of the 2010 Draft by Rays directly out of high school. Spann was sent from the Rays to the Washington Nationals organization in September, 2013, to complete a trade for outfielder David DeJesus. DeJesus, a former Wilmington Blue Rock, was claimed on waivers by the Rays in August and the Nationals let him go in exchange for a player to be named later. That player was Spann. The 6-foot-7 hurler has been fantastic as a pro, amassing a career 21-10 record and 3.10 ERA in 75 appearances (36 starts). Spann began the 2014 campaign with Low-A Hagerstown, where he had a 2-0 record and 1.20 ERA in four relief appearances totaling 15 innings. After his promotion to Potomac, he has continued that success. With the Nationals, Spann is 5-2 with a 3.99 ERA in 12 outings (seven starts). He has struck out 32 and walked 18 in 49.2 innings pitched. Spann's seven starts are his most recent seven outings. He was 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in five relief appearances and is 2-2 with a 4.71 ERA in seven starts. The Blue Rocks have faced him twice, both on June 3 and June 8. They have hit him around to the tune of a combined nine runs (eight earned) on 12 hits over 10.1 innings pitched.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from July 1, 2014


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