Selman Chased Without Recording An Out As Rocks Fall Again
Salem, VA - For the fourth consecutive game the Wilmington Blue Rocks dug themselves a huge early hole and never recovered. Blue Crew starter Sam Selman failed to record a single out as Salem sent 12 batters to the plate and posted an eight-run first frame, on its way to a 9-0 victory on Monday night. The loss was Wilmington's fourth in a row and it dropped the Rocks to two games below .500 (31-33) for the season.
Selman's night started poorly as third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert booted a grounder in his direction to lead-off hitter Felix Sanchez. Devin Marrero followed with a seeing-eye single to right that put runners at the corners. The Wilmington starter then lost his command, issuing consecutive walks, the second of which forced in Salem's first run of the game. Another error by Cuthbert extended the Salem lead to 2-0. Henry Ramos then opened things up by sending a three-run bomb over the left-field fence to put his team on top 5-0.
Stefan Welch did not give Selman (4-5) time to breathe, restarting the rally by singling back through the box. He came around to score on David Renfroe's subsequent double to right. That would be the final batter for Selman, who turned in the shortest outing of the season by a Wilmington starter. He was replaced by Malcom Culver who eventually let Renfroe score on Marrero's RBI grounder to short.
Meanwhile, the Blue Crew offense was thwarted by Henry Owens. The southpaw starter fanned five and walked only one over five scoreless frames. Wilmington put a runner at second base in three different innings against Owens (5-2), but failed to record a single hit with men in scoring position all night.
Wilmington continues its three-game series in Salem on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. The Blue Crew will send right-hander Tyler Sample (0-1, 0.87) to the mound, while the Red Sox will counter with righty William Cuevas (1-6, 7.31).
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Wilmington's starting pitching has not fared well over the first four contests of this six-game road trip. Kyle Zimmer, John Lamb, Kyle Smith and Sam Selman have combined to post an 0-4 record with a 21.52 ERA. Zimmer and Selman failed to make it through the opening inning in their starts, while Smith turned in the worst outing of his professional career. For the season, the Wilmington rotation has posted a 4.53 earned run average.
The Rocks fell to 2-10 in games when the opponent starts a left-handed pitcher. Henry Owens has faced Wilmington three times this season, earning three victories and yielding just two runs in 16 innings pitched. Overall, the Blue Crew are batting just .219 against southpaws, 31 points lower than their team-batting average versus right-handed pitchers.
The Wilmington bullpen provided one of the lone bright spots on Monday. Malcolm Culver, Antonio Cruz and Robinson Yambati combined to work eight innings, allowing just a single unearned run. Over the last four games, Rocks relievers have combined to work 22.1 innings while allowing only three earned runs. On the season, the Blue Crew bullpen has posted a scant 2.90 ERA.
Jared Schlehuber continues to excel on the road. The first baseman went 1-for-3 with a walk in Monday's loss to extend his road-hitting streak to 12 games. Schlehuber is batting .393 on the road as opposed to just .147 at Frawley Stadium. Monday's effort raised Schlehuber's overall batting average back to .300. He is the only player on the team to carry an average of .300 or better.
Lane Adams lost his 15-game on-base streak in Wilmington's 9-0 loss. Adams went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts on Monday. The outfielder batted .346 with a homer, six doubles, nine RBIs and 13 walks over the course of the streak, which started on May 23.
The Rocks were shutout for a Carolina-League high eighth time this season. No other team in the CL has been blanked more than three times in 2013. Salem is the fourth different squad to hold the Wilmington offense scoreless for a full game on the year.
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