CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Zeroes Again for Wilmington in Loss to Sox

Published on June 11, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (28-36) returned home Monday to finish out the first half on a good note. They didn't get off quite the way they wanted as they were shutout for the second time in as many days by a final mark of 8-0 against the Salem Red Sox (36-27) at Frawley Stadium.

Despite their record, the two things the Blue Rocks have done well all year has been pitch and play defense. Neither was displayed in the opener of this three-game set as they made two early errors and walked a dozen Sox hitters.

In the first inning, Jackie Bradley Jr. reached on a single up the middle against Wilmington starter Tyler Sample. Sample would attempt a pickoff but threw the ball away for a two-base error, his sixth misplay of the year. A sacrifice fly from Shannon Wilkerson brought in the game's first run.

In the third, Heiker Meneses slashed a double to right field to get aboard. After a walk to Adalberto Ibarra, Bradley Jr. bounced into a double play. Wilkerson picked up his teammate with a single to right and a 2-0 Salem lead. With Travis Shaw batting, Wilkerson swiped second base on the first pitch. He took off a pitch later as catcher Kevin David sailed the ball into left field for an error as Wilkerson came home with his 18 th and 19 th stolen bases and a 3-0 Salem advantage.

Sample worked into the fifth inning and could not make it through the frame. He allowed four of the first five batters he faced to reach, including three walks before he was given the gate. Cole White was called upon and promptly let in two runs thanks to a hit batsmen and a walk with the bases loaded. Three runs crossed the plate in the inning for a 6-0 lead for Salem.

Two more runs came off White in the sixth inning thanks to a pair of walks from White to cap the scoring at 8-0.

The Rocks face the Sox again on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. righty Jeremy Kehrt (NR) gets the go for Salem and Wilmington righty Yordano Ventura (3-5, 3.21) will take the ball. Broadcast coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. as studio host Rob Cunningham brings fans the Rocks Report Pre-game Show, presented by Wawa, on 89.7 WGLS-FM and online at wgls.rowan.edu.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

The Rocks stand 5.5 games back of first-place Lynchburg in the Northern Division after Lynchburg's game was rained out on Monday. Wilmington has no meetings with the Hillcats until the second half. Wilmington's final six games of the half will pit it against Southern Division squads. The Blue Rocks are six back in the loss column with six games to go. The Rocks will be eliminated from the playoff chasae on Tuesday with a loss or a Lynchburg win, since the Hillcats owns the head-to-head tiebreaker since they beat Wilmington four times out of seven in the first half.

Wilmington has been held to three runs or less in 17 of its last 19 games and in 40 of its 64 on the year. Over the greater span, the team is 10-30 when held to three or less and 18-6 when plating four plus.

The Blue Rocks have now been shutout for 24 consecutive innings, continuing a season-high mark. They were blanked for the last six frames of Saturday's game with Winston-Salem before being shutout in the last two ballgames.

With no runs on three hits for two consecutive days, the Blue Rocks were shut out for the eighth time on the season and in back-to-back games for the first time all season. After being shutout six times from in the first 41 games of the season, the Rocks had pitched five straight shutouts of their own, spanning April 20 until June 4 before their offense put up a bagel on Sunday evening in Winston-Salem and on Monday against Salem.

The loss is the 36 th of the first half for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. It guarantees a non-winning first half for the club. The Blue Rocks hadn't finished a first half with a losing record since 2010 when they posted a 32-38 record and lost the North Division to Frederick by nine games. The Blue Rocks have not won a first half title since 2006.

The Blue Rocks have now lost six games in a row for the first time all season. They lost the final two games of a four-game set with the Carolina Mudcats from June 6-7 before being swept over the weekend by Winston-Salem.

The twelve walks dished out by Wilmington pitching set a season-high mark for the year. The previous best was six which was done three times already this year, with the most recent coming against these Red Sox back on May 2 at Frawley. Tyler Sample walked five, Cole White handed out four freebies and Edwin Carl put on a trio. The five by Sample set a season-high individually, as he had walked four batters in three different games this year.

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Carolina League Stories from June 11, 2012


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