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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Blue Rocks Lose

July 9, 2016 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE- The Wilmington Blue Rocks (33-53/6-11) and Myrtle Beach Pelicans (44-43/8-9) had to wait 61 minutes as heavy rains delayed the game, but once it started both offenses were ready to roar. The Rocks clobbered three home runs on the night, but the Pelicans edged the home squad 8-7. Chad Johnson went deep for the second time in as many games and both Samir Duenez and Brandon Downes launched three run shots for the most home runs in a single game this season by the Blue Crew.

The Rocks had Corey Ray out on the mound, but the righty while the righty had been so good over his last five starts, tonight was a different story. He struck out the first batter Charcer Burks, but the ball went through Chad Johnson's five hole, allowing Burks to reach. That proved costly when Rashad Crawford doubled to right center to put men at second and third and nobody out. Gleyber Torres followed with a slow roller to short that scored both runs. Brian Bien charged the ball and threw on the run, but the ball went low and skipped by the first basemen to allow both Burks and Crawford to cross home with a 2-0 Pelicans lead.

That lead did not last long though thanks to a monster hack from Duenez. Elier Hernandez worked a one out walk and Alfredo Escalera looped a singe to right to put runners at first and second for the big first basemen. He waited on a 2-0 pitch from Pelicans starter Jake Stinnett and blasted it out to center. It was initially ruled a triple, but the umpiring crew got together and ruled correctly that the ball cleared the centerfield wall.

The Pellies though came back with single runs in both the second and third to retake the lead before another Blue Rock member went deep in the bottom of the third. With Escalera on second and Duenez on first, Downes came to the plate and took the first pitch of his at bat and lofted it over the short wall in right for a three run dinger. The home run propelled the Rocks ahead 6-4 after three innings.

However, Myrtle Beach continued to chip away and brought a run home in the fourth to cut the lead to 6-5. The game stayed that way until the top of the seventh when the Rocks defense opened the door for a comeback. Bien misplayed a hopper off of the bat of the leadoff batter and immediately came around to score on a double by Torres. That knotted the game and once Torres took third on a delayed steal it put the potential go-ahead run 90 feet away. Jacob Bodner, who was on the mound for the Rocks, walked Ian Rice to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Bodner got the next man on a shallow popup to right, but a slow roller by Yasiel Balaguert brought home the runner from third and gave the Pelicans the 8-6 advantage. Chad Johnson brought the Rocks to within one on a opposite field shot in the seventh, but the offense stalled there, losing 8-7.

Tommy Thorpe gets the win for the Pelicans with an inning of scoreless ball to even his record at 4-4 while Bodner gets saddled with the loss and moves to 0-2 with his second blown save. Ryan McNeil pitched a perfect ninth for Myrtle Beach to secure his twelfth win on the season. The wrap-around series continues on Sunday with a 5:05 p.m. when the Rocks will toss LHP Colin Rodgers (2-5, 5.07) against the Pelicans' RHP Zach Hedges (6-7, 2.98). Fans that want to attend the game can get their tickets at the Rocks Ticket Office (302-888-BLUE) or online at Blue Rocks.com. Fans interested in listening to the game can catch all the action on WGLS-FM 89.7 or on the TuneIn App.

Pebbles of Knowledge

Brandon Downes clocked his seventh home run of the season on Saturday night to extend his team lead to two over Wander Franco. It was his first three run homer of the year and the outfielder now has four home runs this season with men on base. Of his seven long balls, a pair are two-run shots, the one Saturday night was a three-run blast and he also hit a grand slam at Frawley back on May 20 against the Frederick Keys. Since Downes collected his seventh four-bagger on the year, he has finally caught Ryan O'Hearn and tied the former Rocks first basemen for most on the club.

With the seventh inning bomb, Chad Johnson became just the third Blue Rock all season to go yard in back-to-back games. He joins Alfredo Escalera who did it on June 26 and 27 against the Winston-Salem Dash and Lyncburg Hillcats as well as Ryan O'Hearn who went big fly on April 22 and 23 against Potomac. After not hitting a home run for 16 games, Johnson has now done so in two consecutive games and it seems like the left-handed hitting shortstop has a knack for hitting homers in bunches. His other two blasts this season came against the Salem Red Sox when he hit a couple during a three-day span when the Sox visited in mid-June.

Wander Franco continues to produce for the Blue Rocks. Franco drove in eight runs in the series against the Potomac Nationals including seven on Monday night with the help of a grand slam. He went 1-for-4 on Saturday against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. He has now hit safely in six in a row and eight of nine to continue a steady climb for his batting average. Back on June 12 Franco's average was sitting at .239, but from June 13 to June 29 he picked up just five hits to drop his average all the way down to .204. Thanks to the mini upswing in the last nine games, Franco has bumped the average to .214.

THEY SAID IT

Blue Rocks Manager Jamie Quirk

"We pushed (Corey Ray) his last outing and he went 7.2 innings in Potomac. His pitch count got up to 100 pitches, which was his first time so we were watching him this time a little bit. He didn't have his best stuff and he was working too hard. He got three innings and didn't have his normal stuff. He hit 70 pitches so we knew, "why push it any longer than that." He wasn't as sharp as he had been so we got him out of there after the three innings."

"Jake (Newberry) has been pitching great the whole time we've had him here. He's a bulldog. He goes after them. He's got a good selection of pitches and commands his fastball. He can throw it in, out, up down. He really spots down and away against right-handed batters well and throws the breaking ball right off of it. He's been extremely consistent the whole time he has been here."

"It's been a little of both in terms of changing approaches in this second half and executing at the plate for more power. CJ (Chad Johnson) has had a couple of home runs here, back-to-back days. He's had four since June and he's just hunting the fastball more. He's getting it and trying to do some damage with it. (Brandon Downes) Downsey a nice three run homer... he's been working hard. He was out earlier today, hitting on the field, doing some stuff and trying to get comfortable. Sammy (Samir Duenez), that's his game. He attacks the ball. He's a see ball, hit ball, get the barrel to it type of guy. He's gonna hit some home runs."

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