Blewett Dominates in Shutout Win
Woodbridge, VA - In a low scoring affair, the Wilmington Blue Rocks (18-20) found a way to win the series opener against the Potomac Nationals (18-19) by the score of 2-0 Monday night at Pftizner Stadium. RHP Scott Blewett (2-3) dominated on the mound for Wilmington with seven scoreless innings
Woodbridge, VA - In a low scoring affair, the Wilmington Blue Rocks (18-20) found a way to win the series opener against the Potomac Nationals (18-19) by the score of 2-0 Monday night at Pftizner Stadium. RHP
The game would start as a scoreless stalemate as Blewett and Potomac starter RHP
In the sixth, the Rocks capitalized on a defensive miscue by Potomac. With a runner at second base and one out,
Blewett finished the game with seven shutout innings, scattered three hits, walked a pair and struck out six batters to bounce back nicely from his tough loss he suffered against the P-Nats in his last start. RHP
Wilmington takes on Potomac in the second game of the four-game series on Tuesday, May 16 with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Pfitzner Stadium. LHP
Pebbles of Knowledge:
With the win, it marks the first, four-game winning streak of the season for the Rocks. The Blue Crew strung together a three consecutive wins three times this year prior to the four-gamer. The last time the Rocks have won four games in a row was back on August 17-20, 2016 when they won two against Carolina and two against Potomac during a season-long six game victory streak.
They Said It: Jamie Quirk
"His fastball command, getting ahead of hitters and he really had down and away going to both righties and lefties. (On Blewett's adjustment against Potomac.) I was proud of him. This club (Potomac) has hit him pretty good and he made the adjustments today and made his pitches. I told him his last time out that it wasn't his stuff, it was his selection of stuff. Their catcher (Taylor Gushue) hit a couple of home runs against him last time. Blewett was focused on getting him out, making good pitches and that kind of set the tone for everything."
"They have been huge. (On starting pitching being so successful over the last month.) They have maybe three hiccups all year. They are on a good roll, they prepare well, they do their work in between starts which is key. They are a good unit and feed off each other. They have been excellent and when your starters do that and keep games close, that's why we have been playing in so many close games. It's because the starters keep it that way and they feed off that. They allow the offense to scratch and claw and get whatever we need."
"The results I hope that would come have come and they are play solid and smart baseball. That's the key. We are getting guys in when they are out there, moving runners, pitching well. Our defense has been excellent aside from the error (on Monday night). Those are things that will eventually show up in close games and they are starting to."
"(Cody) Jones has been working a lot with hitting coach (Abraham) Nunez. He's doing extra work at home when we had the long homestand. So he got out early three or four times. It's starting to come after he started in Arizona and missed some Spring Training. He is getting is swing now, his timing back and that was the main thing. His timing was off and it's starting to come now. It's hard for a switch hitter to refine both sides of the plate, but he's starting to find it."
Scott Blewett, Starting Pitcher
"It started with the last outing. I came out strong against (Potomac) and the second and third time through the order they kind of caught on and strung a couple of hits together. They have had two guys in (Bryan) Mejia and (Taylor) Gushue that have had my number all year. Mejia was out of the lineup (Monday) so the biggest focus was Gushue. We had a game plan with him before the game and it was to hit that outside corner. If we were going to hit and if we're going to miss, make sure we miss away and that's what we did. We walked him twice on four pitches and was able to get him to fly out to left. For the most part, it was attack and stick with my strength which was arm side down, especially with their left-handed heavy lineup."
"Yes. (On him feeling he had his fastball from the start). Actually, we made an adjustment in the bullpen. I had the sun in my eyes so I pulled my hat down and even something small like that let me keep my chin down and my head aligned. Once I got that, and got in my groove with my confidence it all came together."
"Every team has a different approach and our next opponent for me is Frederick. I haven't thrown against them yet, but pitch location is the most important thing, not the pitch you throw. If we can execute and get the ball down and away from the hitters, everything comes together."
"From day one, even in Spring Training, I was really happy with the team we had once the teams were released. Everyone is together. We don't have our little groups here and there. Everybody is pulling for each other and there is energy in the clubhouse. Even when we lose those one-run games we say we are going to get them tomorrow. We know we are in every game, we are competing and everyone wants to win."
"Absolutely. (Impressed on team keeping composure in tough one-run losses). That's just being loose in the clubhouse and everybody pulling for each other. One-run games happen and it stinks that we were on the losing end of most of them, but if we keep going at it things are going to start going our way and they have."
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