Blue Rocks Lose Control, Lose Eleventh Straight Game 8-7
Wilmington, DE-The Wilmington Blue Rocks (6-18) battled back on two separate occasions against the Frederick Keys (10-16) on Tuesday night, but the bullpen faltered late and lost control as the Rocks saw their slide extend to eleven games in an 8-7 loss. The Blue Crew arms shattered the franchise record for walks in a game as four arms combined for 16 free passes and eight runs allowed despite not surrendering a hit in the final 3.2 innings pitched.
Matt Tenuta started for the Rocks, but immediately got into trouble in the top of the first after retiring the first two batters. He walked Wynston Sawyer, which gave Aderlin Rodriguez a chance with two outs and Rodriguez took full advantage, blasting a two run home run to left for an early 2-0 Keys lead. The Blue Crew responded though in the bottom of the first when Corey Toups tripled for the second game in a row to lead off the bottom of the frame. He came home on an Alfredo Escalera single one batter later and Escalera moved up to second after Wander Franco picked up a single of his own. After a Brandon Downes fielder's choice, Elier Hernandez tied the game at two with a sacrifice fly to left.
The Keys retook the lead in the top of the fifth inning when they finally chased Tenuta from the game. Tenuta had already give up a run in the fifth when he was pulled and Rocks manager Jamie Quirk turned to Matt Alvarez to get out of the jam. Alvarez though allowed both inherited runners to score on a wild pitch and a double as the Keys took a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. Once again it was Toups bringing the boys from Frawley back into the game.
Toups took the first pitch of the fifth and hit a moon shot just over the low fence in left for the first non-Ryan O'Hearn Blue Rock home run at Frawley Stadium this season. That cut the deficit to 5-3 and Escalera continued the mini rally with his third hit of the night and was driven home on a two out double by Hernandez to bring the Rocks. They took their first lead of the game in the sixth when the bottom of the order jumpstarted things.
Josh Banuelos, who was making his Blue Rocks debut, picked up his first Advanced-A hit to begin the sixth and moved all the way up to third on an errant pick off throw. A walk to Chad Johnson put men on the corners and Humberto Arteaga tied the game with a bunt single down the first base line. With runners at first and second, a bad throw by catcher Jonah Heim allowed Johnson and Arteaga to move up 90 feet. The Rocks took advantage when an attempted intentional walk was thrown to the backstop allowing the go ahead run to score. They added another run on a groundout by Franco to jump ahead 7-5.
The Blue Crew held that lead until the eighth inning when Ian Tomkins came unraveled and walked four batters in the frame to bring the game to 7-6 and forcing Quirk to once again go to the bullpen. He called upon Mark McCoy, but McCoy hit the first batter he faced with his first pitch of the outing before getting out of the pickle with a groundout. McCoy went back out for the ninth inning, but walked three of the first four batters to load the bases with one out. Rodriguez came to the plate and hit a slow roller to first base, but Franco's only play was across the diamond, allowing the go ahead run to score for a Keys' 8-7 lead. The third time was not the charm for the Rocks as they could not come back for a third time, going down in order in the bottom of the ninth for the 8-7 loss.
McCoy took the loss for the Blue Crew and is now 0-2 on the season while Luis Gonzalez went 3.2 innings in relief for the win and improves to 1-2 on the year. The Rocks look to snap their eleven game slide on Wednesday with the first pitch scheduled for 6:35. The boys from Frawley will have Josh Staumont (0-2, 2.00) out on the mound in the series finale against the Keys' Lucas Long (01, 2.45). Fans can listen to the game on 89.7 WGLS-FM and can buy tickets at the Frawley Stadium Ticket Office or call 302-888-BLUE.
Pebbles of Knowledge
The Blue Rocks lost all semblance of control out on the mound tonight. The four arms of Matt Tenuta, Matt Alvarez, Ian Tompkins, and Mark McCoy combined for 16 strikeouts. That shattered the season high of eleven walks and in fact broke not just the nine inning franchise high for walks, but the all-time franchise high for walks as well. The previous record for most walks issued in a nine inning game was 12 back on June 11, 2012 against Salem and the all-time franchise record for walks was 13 in an eleven inning game on August 19, 1997 against Kinston.
The misery at Frawley Stadium in not just confined to the 1-12 home record, but also to children hoping to watch the Blue Crew and get to bed early. The 8-7 loss on Tuesday clocked in at three hours and 41 minutes, which was six minutes shy of the longest nine inning game in franchise history. The boys from Frawley have made it a habit of playing long games this season, having just played a three hour and 49 minute game in their 12 inning 3-2 loss on Saturday. Tuesday night was the sixth time at home this season that the Rocks have played for more than three hours.
With O'Hearn now gone the Rocks need to find their offense from somewhere else. They might not have to look any further than the top of their lineup. Corey Toups tripled to begin the bottom of the first inning for the second game in a row and came home one batter later to score the Rock's first run of the game. It was Toups' fourth triple of the year while the rest of the team just has two (lone triples for Brandon Downes and Elier Hernandez). Toups is also second on the team in doubles, one behind Downes who clubbed his eighth of the season in the bottom of the ninth in Monday night's game. With O'Hearn's departure the rest of the roster has just five home runs, with two of those belonging to Toups as graduates of Sam Houston State are responsible for nine of the teams 12 home runs.
O'Hearns departure has left a huge void at first base and in the cleanup spot, but Josh Banueolos is hoping to replace that productivity in both spots. Banuelos went hitless in his first two at bats, but picked up his first Advanced-A hit with a ground ball off of the glove of Aderlin Rodriguez in the sixth inning. He later scored his first run that same inning after drawing a pickoff throw at first, which went wide of the bag and allowed him to motor all the way to first base. He came home on a bunt single down the first base line by Humberto Arteaga. Banuelos showed he is not just a great bat, showing off his glove in the eighth inning and making a great pick on a throw in the dirt, which saved at least one run from coming home in what was at that time a 7-7 ballgame.
They Said It
Blue Rocks Managers Jamie Quirk
"They (the pitchers) have to change what they're doing. It's a mind set. You have to get over the fear of throwing the ball over the plate. That's what we're going to preach and we have preached, but eventually it gets to the point where it has to be, "I'm going to throw strikes," and "I have to trust that my strikes are going to be good enough," and go from there. It's at a point where they have to dig within themselves. It's just like anybody when you're struggling. You have to trust what you're doing and don't have fear of throwing the ball over the plate."
"That was great that we were able to come back on a couple of occasions. We got right back in the game, tied it up late. Our little spark plug there, (Corey) Toups hitting a home run and (Alfredo) Escalera was nice, getting those three hits especially because he was struggling so that's a big positive. It was a tough night for the offense because we were out there for so long every inning and that wears on ya, and I think that hurt our offense a little tonight, but it was nice to see them come back and get some runs late and tie it. The positives were Toups and Escalera. Maybe those three hits can get him on a little streak and Toupsy is doing a nice job."
"It was a good at bat from Escalera there in the first. He was getting beat, hitting balls into our dugout (slight chuckle), over on the right side and as the at bat went on he made an adjustment and that is really what you want to see. This game is all about adjustments and he got not just a base hit, but an RBI out of it. And then he got two more hits after that so that was a big positive."
"We saw him a lot in the spring so we knew about Josh (Banuelos). He was playing with our ballclub a lot. He's a solid hitter. He takes good at bats. He's going to be a nice addition after losing Ryan (O'Hearn), but he's going to be playing a lot and he's a good first baseman with good hands and he did a good job tonight… I didn't know if that ball was going to get by him (in the eighth), but it was a heck of a pick. He hung in there, got low on the ball and got his eyes down there and made a very nice pick. That ball is one of those that can really eat you up and he got down there with it and made a nice pick out of it."