Rocks End Odd Day at Frawley with Win

Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (24-24) remained at sea-level as they split a quasi-doubleheader against the Potomac Nationals (23-25) on Friday night at Frawley Stadium. The Rocks lost the resumption of the May 18 suspended game against the P-Nats 4-3 before earning a 4-2 come-from-behind victory in a seven-inning affair in the back end. Major league rehabber Hunter Dozier delivered the game-tying hit in the second game before Jecksson Flores pushed the Rocks out in front with a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning.

The continuation of the May 18 contest that was postponed due to rain, with the Rocks up 1-0, the P-Nats tied the game un the fourth on an RBI double by Rhett Wiseman. In the fifth, the Nationals were at it again with a run-scoring single from Kelvin Gutierrez to give Potomac a 2-1 lead. Austin Davidson padded the P-Nats lead with a RBI single to make it 3-1. In the top of the ninth, the Rocks pulled within a run on a Chris DeVito solo blast to make it 3-2, but Wilmington was unable to score another run.
In the second game of the evening, the Rocks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead Anderson Miller's team-leading 28 RBI of the season on a fielder's choice. Potomac stormed back and capitalized on a pair of throwing errors from Chase Vallot in the inning. However, the Rocks battled back. In the fifth inning, the Blue Crew tied the game up with a Dozier RBI base knock to right field to score D.J. Burt who singled, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error on the steal. It was the first RBI for the big league rehabber who played in his second game of his rehab assignment.
Later in the inning, Flores delivered with the bases loaded and roped a go-ahead RBI single to left field to push the Rocks out in front 3-2. Burt followed two batters later with his third hit of the game, driving in a key insurance run to give Wilmington a 4-2 lead they wouldn't surrender.
RHP Jacob Bodner came in for the save and got help from Tanner Stanley who made a spectacular diving grab in the right field corner to end the game. RHP Scott Blewett battled and tossed six innings, allowed two runs, both of which were unearned.
The Blue Rocks and Nationals square off at Frawley Stadium on Saturday, May 27 with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. LHP Colin Rodgers (1-2, 3.03 ERA) gets the start for the Rocks while RHP Luis Reyes (3-3, 5.26 ERA) climbs the hill for the Nationals. Fans can listen to the game as Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh will have the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
As the game on Friday was altered by the weather, the game that was postponed between Wilmington and Lynchburg on Friday, May 25 has been rescheduled in part of a doubleheader on June 13 at 5:30 p.m. when the Blue Crew travels to the Hillcats in a three-game series.
With the pair of games being decided by two runs or less on Friday night, the Rocks and Nationals have now played in 10 games that have been decided by a two-run margin or less in 16 of their total contests. The Rocks have taken 8 of the last 12 games and three of the last four contests that have been decided by a pair of runs or less. Overall, the Rocks lead the head-to-head matchup 9-7. The Rocks have played the Nationals more times (16) through the first month-and-a-half of the season than the rest of the Northern Division combined (15 games).
With the on-base streak in limbo because of the suspended game, Nicky Lopez extended it with a walk in the resumption of the suspended game and also reached base in the seven-inning affair to up his impressive on-base streak to 25-games. Lopez continues to chase teammate Anderson Miller for the longest on-base streak for any Blue Rock hitter and for any hitter in the Carolina League. Lopez strung together a 30-gamer of his own last year in his first year in professional baseball with the Burlington Royals. Lopez has hit in all but six games this season and has reached in every game but two.
Although it was a tough start to his game, Blewett battled and eventually settled in and tossed six strong innings of work. With his performance, he has now lasted six innings and allowed one earned run or less in five of his last seven starts. Although he didn't factor in the decision, Blewett has posted back-to-back quality starts against the P-Nats, a team in which he struggled with earlier in the season losing his previous two starts against the Northern Division foes.
THEY SAID IT: JAMIE QUIRK
"I was disappointed in the first game because we came out like we hadn't played in a week. But, we came out the second game and scored right away in the first inning. Scott Blewett was unbelievable. You don't know this, but we had one pitcher in the bullpen (Jacob Bodner) and he pitched the seventh inning. That was all we had, so we needed Blewett to pitch and he did, six great innings. He was fantastic, and Bodner finished it up. We played good, solid baseball in the second game. I give credit to Chase Vallot, he had the two hiccups in the inning they scored two runs in, and then he threw two guys out on two throws that are as good as any catcher you are ever going to see. To do that in the same game that he had the hiccups in shows me something. That was huge. We stopped their running game, got two huge outs on the bases, and then we executed in the bottom of the sixth. Vallot led off with a walk. I'm sure everyone thought I was going to bunt with Roman Collins. I pinch-ran Cody Jones and he made a great read getting to third base on Collins' base hit, so we had first and third. With Jecksson Flores coming up, everybody in the world probably thought we were going to squeeze. I said, Flores, I'm going to give you one pitch, they think you are going to bunt and they are going to throw a fastball right down the middle and I want you to take a hack. He hit it real hard and we took off from there. It was just good execution. They picked it up, came to play. You never want to say it was a huge win, but that was a huge win."
"It gives you satisfaction that the player executed. (On Flores taking advantage of the one pitch) He could have gotten too big and tried to hit one over the scoreboard and get out of his element but (Flores) just took a nice, good swing and hit a bullet. That's what was nice to see. He stayed calm, but, he understood what we were talking about. I said to him, you are going to get a fastball, just hit it, and that's what he did. That was satisfaction. He kept his emotions under control and he is a high energy kid. We like him to play with high energy but at times, you have to harness it, and he harnessed it and took a good ole swing and hit a bullet. Flores can play second, third, short, and he is as good as the guys he plays behind. He brings energy. He is the perfect utility player because he loves to play, he gets after it. When he is in the lineup, he loves it. He is a free swinger, a high energy guy and he brings energy to the team when he plays."
"Hunter Dozier made two great plays, one over the fence on a foul ball and another great backhanded play. Flores made a couple nice plays on slow rollers. Of course, the one that Tanner Stanley caught was fantastic. Defense keeps you in the game, they have to earn base hits. For the most part all year, we have played very good defense. We have a hiccup here and there. We have turned a lot of double plays. Our organization is built around pitching and defense and it showed tonight at our level."
"It's huge (on being able to rely on Scott Blewett with a thin bullpen). Especially after his last outing. He went, like, four and two-thirds, and had a poor outing in Frederick. He was huge. I don't even know if he knew we had one guy in the bullpen, he probably did but, we didn't say anything. We literally had one pitcher left going into this second game. We used Richard Lovelady in the first. Andres Machado started the first game. Lovelady had to finish it up because Machado was out of pitches. It was huge that Blewett gave us six innings."
Hunter Dozier
"I got ahead in the count 3-1 (in the at-bat he singled in the game tying run). At this point I wanted to get the run in. I didn't want to walk. I wanted to swing a little bit because that's what I need. I was just trying to get the guy in. The pitch was a fastball outside, probably a ball, but I swung at it anyways and got it through the two-hole."
"(On a foul ball catch made in the stands) It was high enough where I had time to look over and see where it was. That was one of those where it kept on going foul but I knew it was to come back the way it was hit and I just stayed with it."
"It's good (being back in Wilmington). I never thought I would be but it's good. I saw the old host families and other people, it's a good group of guys in the clubhouse and they are making it fun. I've never been on the DL and had to do this. It's a good group of guys and they are joking around and stuff, so it's fun."
"I felt better tonight at the plate than I did the first night. It's going to take more plate appearances and getting used to that game speed. I'm making progress and I felt better. I'm looking forward to playing right field tomorrow. I haven't been out there in a while. It's good to get out there and I enjoy playing outfield too. Right now, it's about getting at bats for me, that's the biggest thing."
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