Blue Rocks Drop Series Opener in Carolina

Zebulon, NC - Home runs by Travis Maezes and Brandon Downes , plus a quality start from Cristian Castillo , were not enough, as the Wilmington Blue Rocks dropped a 3-2 decision to the Carolina Mudcats on Thursday at Five County Stadium. The loss ends the Blue Crew's three-game game winning streak and was Wilmington's fifth consecutive defeat away from the friendly confines of Frawley Stadium.

Carolina got on the board first courtesy of a two-run homer by Lucas Erceg in the fourth. The Rocks wasted little time authoring a response. Maezes cut the deficit in half when he homered on the first pitch of the fifth frame. Downes tied the contest when he started the next inning with a home run to left.
But Erceg would strike again in the home-half of the sixth. Monte Harrison doubled and came home one batter later on Erceg's bloop-single to left.
Castillo took the tough-luck loss despite turning in a quality start. The Carolina League All-Star bounced back from two rough outings to hold Carolina to just three runs on four hits while fanning four and walking three. The Rocks had opportunities to provide him with additional run support, but stranded three runners in scoring position and had two more gunned down on the base paths during their first three trips to the plate. Roman Collins missed tying the game in the ninth inning by a matter of inches when he hooked a mammoth fly ball just outside the right--field foul pole.
Wilmington continues its brief four-game road trip in Carolina on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. as righty prospect A.J. Puckett (8-7, 3.87) takes the mound for the Blue Rocks against Carolina right-hander Marco Diplan (6-6, 5.70 ERA). Fans can listen to the game as Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh will have the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Wilmington is making its only trip of the season to Five County Stadium in Zebulon, North Carolina. It is one of four Carolina League stadiums where the Rocks are playing just one series this season (Winston-Salem's BB&T Ball Park, Myrtle Beach's TicketReturn.com Field and Buies Creek's Jim Perry Stadium are the others). Thursday's game was the Blue Crew's first meeting with Carolina since April 12 when the clubs wrapped up a three-game series at Frawley Stadium. Wilmington dropped two of three that week, with each of the games decided by just a single score.
Prospect catcher Chase Vallot was forced to depart Thursday's game in the second inning. Vallot worked a walk in his only plate appearance in the top of the second and got as far as third base, but after being stranded there, he did not come out defensively in the bottom of the inning. The youngest man on the Blue Rocks roster has put together a solid first year at the Advanced-A level. Vallot leads the team in homers (12), doubles (22) and walks (64). He is also the active team-leader in on-base percentage (.379) despite leading the league with 126 strikeouts.
The Blue Rocks used the long ball on Thursday, hitting two solo home runs to score both of their runs. The effort moved the Rocks ahead of Buies Creek and out of last place in the Carolina League in team dingers with 69. Wilmington has hit 49 of its homers on the road in 2017. It was Travis Maezes' fifth home run of the season and his first since June 15. Meanwhile, Brandon Downes launched his 10th long ball in only 38 games this year.
The Blue Rocks have played in a Carolina League-high 39 one-run games so far in 2017. No other club in the ten-team loop has played in more than 33 single-score affairs. The Rocks are now 21-18 in such contests. Wilmington opened the season just 4-13 in one-run games, then won 17 of their next 19 before dropping the last three.
THEY SAID IT, JAMIE QUIRK:
"I thought he was very good. The homer got him and then the jam shot for the third run. I thought he pitched excellent. (Castillo) is that guy in the rotation that teams just don't score when he is pitching. the games are always tight like that. We just couldn't give him a breather. He pitched very well.
I don't know (on struggles on road with runners in scoring position.) I don't know if it's pressing, being over anxious or doing what you have to do at that particular time. We left a couple runners out there (Thursday) that we definitely could've used.
(Downes) is on his game. He is much improved from last year. The home runs speak for itself, his OPS is off the charts since he's got here. He's doing exactly what we hoped he would do and we hope he continues to do it and good things will happen for him.
Yeah, (Travis) Maezes can always do that (provide power in the bottom of the lineup.) He got one down in the zone and that's his spot. He was able to get one over the left field wall and it was nice to see."
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