Manaea Hurls Masterpiece In 2-0 Win Over Nationals

Wilmington, DE - Sean Manaea threw seven shutout innings and struck out a career-high 12, leading the Wilmington Blue Rocks to a 2-0 victory over the Potomac Nationals. With the win, Wilmington improved to 31-34 in the second half and to 64-69 overall. They were also able to keep up with Lynchburg and Frederick in the Wild Card chase. With four games to play, the Rocks sit 1.5 games behind the Hillcats and a half-game behind the Keys.

Manaea carved through the Potomac lineup from the opening pitch of the ballgame and punched out four of the first five hitters he faced. He also ended his evening by striking out two of his final three batters. Manaea yielded just three hits in his seven frames of work and, for only the second time this season, he did not issue a single free pass. Seventy of Manaea's 98 pitches were thrown for strikes.

Raul Mondesi's RBI groundout to second helped the Blue Rocks crack the scoreboard and take a 1-0 lead. Jack Lopez tripled into the left-field corner to lead off the frame and came plateward on Mondesi's groundout despite the fact that Potomac had brought the infield in. Lopez broke on contact and then froze to get a read on the ball. He momentarily leaned back toward third base, fooling Tony Renda into thinking he would retreat. The speedy infielder never did, though, and Renda fired to first to retire Mondesi as Lopez sprinted home safely with the first run of the ballgame.

Jared Schlehuber homered down the line in left to lead off the ninth inning, providing the Blue Crew with a crucial insurance run.

Manaea (7-8, 3.11) was victorious for Wilmington while Ian Dickson (5-9, 4.37) suffered the defeat for Potomac. Kyle Bartsch earned his seventh save of the year with two shutout frames to close out the ballgame.

The Rocks return to action on Saturday for a doubleheader as they welcome the Salem Red Sox to town for four games. Wilmington will send right-hander Glenn Sparkman (8-2, 1.40) to the mound in the opener and fellow righty Luis Santos to the hill in the nightcap. First pitch is slated for 5:05 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Sean Manaea's final start of the regular season may have been his best. The southpaw threw seven spectacular shutout innings against Potomac, yielding just three hits and no walks. It was only the second time this year that Manaea did not issue a free pass. The talented lefty struck out 12 and threw 70 of his 98 pitches for strikes. Manaea's 12 punchouts are both a career-high and a Blue Rocks individual season-high. Since the All-Star Break, he is 5-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 13 starts. He has struck out 79, walked 29 and given up 45 hits in 73.1 innings pitched. Manaea has had his fair share of dominant starts after the break. On August 13, he threw a seven-inning complete-game shutout in the opener of a doubleheader against the Frederick Keys. Two starts prior to that one, on August 2, Manaea worked 7.1 shutout innings against the Keys. It is still the longest outing by a Blue Crew pitcher in 2014. On the campaign, the 6-foot-5 hurler is 7-8 with a 3.11 ERA in 25 starts. He has fanned 146, walked 54 and given up 102 hits in 121.2 innings pitched. His 146 strikeouts lead the Carolina League while his 3.11 ERA ranks fourth in the circuit.

After shutting out the P-Nats on Thursday and Friday, the Blue Rocks now have a league-best 16 shutout victories. Wilmington is now 16-7 in shutouts this year. The Salem Red Sox are second in the circuit with 10 blankings. The Rocks have now also thrown back-to-back shutouts on five occasions this season. They also accomplished the feat April 11-12 against Winston-Salem, May 27-28 at Carolina, July 2 and 4 against Potomac and Winston-Salem, and on August 13 in both ends of a doubleheader against Frederick. Sean Manaea, who threw seven shutout frames and struck out 12, has been involved in four of the Blue Crew's 16 shutout wins. Wilmington has now shut out Potomac four times, Frederick four times, Winston-Salem four times, Carolina three times and Salem once.

After going hitless in six of his first games with the Blue Rocks this year, Brett Eibner has now recorded multi-hit performances in each of his last two contests. Eibner went 2-for-3 with a stolen base on Friday. That followed up a 3-for-4 performance on Thursday in which he doubled, scored run and drove in a run. During those first eight games with the club, Eibner went just 2-for-26, good for a .077 batting average. He now has five hits in his last seven at-bats. Eibner's back-to-back big nights raised his average 135 points to .212. Eibner's on-base percentage is even higher at .366. That's because of eight walks in his first 10 games back. On August 23, he drew four walks, tying a franchise record and setting a new individual Blue Rocks season-high. He was the first Blue Rock to walk four times in a game since Jeff Corsaletti drew four free passes on July 4, 2006. Eibner began the year with Triple-A Omaha, was placed on the Storm Chasers' Disabled List on June 27 with a right-abdominal strain. He rejoined the Blue Rocks this month for the first time since 2012 to work his way back from the injury. In his first stint with Wilmington, Eibner batted .196 with 15 homers in 120 games.

Blue Rocks starting pitcher Brooks Pounders was announced as the winner of Minor League Baseball's annual Moniker Madness contest on Friday. In Moniker Madness, fans are asked to vote on which player has the best name in the game. Previous winners have included Sicnarf Loopstok in 2013, Rock Shoulders in 2012 and Seth Schwindenhammer in 2011. Pounders, who in two starts for the Blue Rocks is 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 11.2 innings pitched, is on the road to recovery after undergoing surgery late last year. His 2014 campaign began in July at Rookie-Level Idaho Falls, where he went 0-1 with a 4.80 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. Former Blue Rock Rowdy Hardy was the champion in 2010. Two other Blue Rocks also finished in the top-15 in voting. Zeb Sneed placed 11th while Bubba Starling was voted as the 13th-best name in the Minors.

The Professional Baseball Strength & Conditioning Coaches Society announced on Friday that Wilmington's Joey Greany has been named the Carolina League's Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year. Greany is in his first season with the Blue Rocks and in his seventh year with the Kansas City Royals organization. Greany has worked as high as Triple-A Omaha during his seven seasons with Kansas City. Greany is now a three-time Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year. He first won the award in the Texas League while working with the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals during the 2011 campaign. Greany was also named the South Atlantic League's Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year in 2013 while with the Low-A Lexington Legends. During the baseball offseason, Greany uses his expertise in other ways. Last year, he performed consulting work for the NYPD. Greany is also a Fitness Contributor to Dr. Oz's ShareCare.com and StackMedia.com. The longtime coach played collegiately at Alfred State College in Alfred, New York, and at Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tennessee. He is a member of the Alfred State College Athletic Hall of Fame. Greany holds a Bachelor's degree in physical education from Martin Methodist and a master's degree in exercise science from California University of Pennsylvania.

THEY SAID IT:

Bench Coach Justin Gemoll:

"Jack [Lopez] had a huge hit with that triple down the line right there to put some pressure on them. [Raul] Mondesi had a great at-bat, just fouling off pitches. He puts the ball in play and Jack [Lopez] did a very good job of heads up base running and stealing that run there that put us ahead."

"Late in the game like that, in a one run game any time you get insurance is a huge bonus. It was a full count, the guy left a pitch up out over the plate and he [Jared Schlehuber] put a great swing on it and he got it down there over the fence in left for a homerun that was huge for us."

"For me, [Sean Manaea] was dominating. I think he had twelve strikeouts and two hits, but the thing that really stood out, no walks. He was attacking hitters with his fastball, he was getting ahead of them and putting them away with his slider. [Cam] Gallagher did a great job calling the game but Manaea, hats off to him. He's been working hard all year and tonight you got a glimpse of how good this kid can be. For me, yes (it was his best start of the year). He was in total control, he had his pitches down, he was getting ahead, he was throwing strikes and he was finishing them, which is really good."

"With the daily grind of professional baseball, you can't afford to get too high or too low. These guys, they show up everyday, walk through those doors and they're ready to work. They work their tails off and then when the game comes, that's the time to go out there, have fun and compete and let all of your hard work show up on the field. That's what these guys have been doing. The last couple of games they've been playing hard. They know what's at stake here late in the season. They all want to win, they're all competitors so it's fun for us as coaches. We care as much as they do and when we see them on the field doing well and having success it makes us happy too."

"[Jack Lopez] hit the hard ground ball down the line and when it hit the fence in left field it kicked past the guy. When he's running to second, that play is right in front of him, he sees the ball kick and he just kept going. It was a great read by him paying attention."

Second Baseman Jack Lopez:

 "I think [Raul Mondesi's] speed had an impact on it. At the beginning of the at-bat [Justin Gemoll] told me to go on contact and then he came back and told me to read the high hop. [Mondesi] hit it hard but it was a high hop right at him. I took a step home and when he looked at me I took a step back and when I saw him throw to first I took off to home and I was able to score."

"Fast balls, he was attacking the zone with fastballs [before the triple]. With runners in scoring position he was missing his pitches, but other than that he was aggressive with the fastball and I was able to get a hit."

"[Aggressive baserunning is] a big part of our team. We've got some guys who can steal bases. Even Bubba [Starling], our three-hole hitter can run. It's a big part of our team, especially with [Terrance] Gore being gone. You've got to go out there and put pressure on the defense."

"We're very aware [of the playoff race]. We're always asking our trainers what's the score of the other teams. All we can do is go out there and win, put our best effort out there and let it take care of itself."

Starting Pitcher Sean Manaea:

"I feel like everything was working today except for my changeup. I threw a couple that were good and I felt like I was getting under it a bit, it was fading to the left a little bit and those were the ones I wasn't throwing for strikes. The ones I stayed behind and I was throwing for strikes, those were the good ones. [Cam Gallagher] was calling a great game behind the plate, I trusted everything he was doing. I just made a couple of mistake pitches leaving the ball up. The ball that [Estarlin] Martinez hit, the last hit, I left it down the middle and he crushed it for a single but other than those mistakes I felt like everything was working and I thought it was a good outing."

"Defense definitely helps. It feels nice because I feel like I accomplished what I set [as a goal] for the second half, to go deeper into games and not have as many walks. I feel like these last couple of outing I've done exactly that. I know the first half of the season was really rough, but I went through it and I learned a lot from that."

"After every game, we check the scores of Frederick and Lynchburg but I feel like I don't really see that during the game or before the game. I'm still relaxed. These last few games have been the definition of that. We haven't been worried about anything beside ourselves. We just try to go out and win. [A few weeks ago] we felt like we put too much pressure on ourselves, like we had to win these games. For some reason, these past two games we've just been relaxed and having fun."

"It's been a roller coaster, especially the first half. I'm happy I went through all the struggles, I learned so much from this whole season. More than I have from previous years in college and high school. I've learned so many things, especially from [Steve] Luebber like learning hitters. Hopefully I'll take that into next year and keep rolling with it, keep progressing along as a pitcher. It was probably the best outing I had all season."

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