FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2015
CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393
Winston-Salem Hands Wilmington Their Second Sweep Of The Season
The Rocks Are Now 14-20 In The Second-Half
WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The Wilmington Blue Rocks suffered just their second sweep of the season on Thursday night as they fell to the Winston-Salem Dash, 7-3 at BB&T Ballpark. Eddy Alvarez was the offensive star for the Dash, collecting four RBIs and a homer in support of starter Brandon Brennan who went six innings for his third win of the season. The Rocks are now six games under .500 (14-20) in the season’s second-half, the worst record they’ve had in a half this season.
After a couple of quick frames from Rocks’ starter Matthew Strahm, he ran into a jam in the bottom of the third. A Nolan Earley single and a walk to Adam Engel put two men on for Alvarez who blasted a fastball from Strahm over the left field wall, a three-run bomb giving the Dash the initial lead in the game. They weren’t done there. Jake Peter followed the homerun with a single and then stole second to get himself into scoring position. Keon Barnum singled into right, driving Peter home and making it 4-0 Winston-Salem after three.
In the fifth, the Rocks ensured they would not have to endure their 13th shutout of the season when Elier Hernandez hit his first Advanced-A homerun. Hernandez came up with one out in the inning and jacked a ball out over the left-field wall off of Brennan. The Blue Crew was still in a 4-1 hole and the Dash would get that run right back in the next half inning with a solo homer of their own. Matt Alvarez came in out of the bullpen for Strahm and he was greeted by Barnum who hit his sixth long ball of the season, giving Winston-Salem their four-run cushion back, 5-1.
In the sixth, the Rocks chipped away some more against Brennan. After a Logan Moon single and a walk to Carlos Garcia, Jack Lopez doubled into the right-centerfield gap. Moon scored and Garcia was held up at third. A Mauricio Ramos groundout got Garcia in, but Lopez would be stranded at second. Again, Winston-Salem answered back in the bottom of the inning when Alvarez recorded his fourth RBI of the day on a groundout to Humberto Arteaga. The second baseman might have had a chance to nab the speedy Engel running home, but a bobble ensured that he would get just the out at first and the Dash would go up 6-3.
Wilmington returns home for a quick three-game set with the Carolina Mudcats before heading off for a six-game, two-city road trip starting next Tuesday. The Rocks open the series with Ashton Goudeau on the mound on Friday evening. Goudeau is 5-2 with a 3.07. He’ll be making his fourth start of the season with Wilmington. Another right-hander, Rob Whalen, takes the ball for the Mudcats. Whalen is 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA so far at Advanced-A. First pitch from Frawley Stadium is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
While Matthew Strahm has shown signs of brilliance, he does exhibit one major weakness: the long ball. The homerun off the bat of Eddy Alvarez in the third inning was the fifth homer allowed by Strahm at Advanced-A this season in just nine appearances. The trend is certainly an odd one for Strahm, who never allowed more than a single homerun at any level in professional baseball before getting to the Riverfront. The homeruns may be attributed to Strahm’s new role as a starter for Wilmington. In his four relief appearance at Advanced-A, Strahm has allowed just one long ball, while the other four have come in his five starts. While his numbers are still good, they are noticeably worse when he starts games. The four earned runs he allowed in four innings on Thursday brought his ERA as a starter up to 3.91, compared to just 2.19 as a reliever. Both of his losses have also come when he starts games.
A 1-for-3 performance in the final game the team’s three-game series with the Dash helped Carlos Garcia extend his hitting streak to ten games, eclipsing his season-high in that category. Garcia had an eight-game hitting streak earlier in the season that lasted from June 21 to July 5. Despite his recent success at the plate, Wednesday was the seventh time over the course of the nine-game hit streak where Garcia only had one knock. The Venezuelan native also produced his first home run at the Advanced-A level during the stretch on July 27 against Lynchburg. During his hitting streak, Garcia is 14-for-39 (.359) with a homer, a double, three RBIs, and nine runs scored.
With the loss on Thursday night, the Rocks were swept for just the second time this season. The first time Wilmington failed to win a single game in a series was back from July 12-14 when they lost three games to the Red Sox in Salem, Virginia. Another losing series also means that Wilmington has now lost their last six consecutive series, dating back to their series in Lynchburg, which started on July 10. Since then, the Blue Crew are nine games under .500 (6-15). The last time they took a series coming in their three-game set with Frederick from July 7-9. Wilmington is now 52-52 overall this season, .500 for the first time since they were 11-11 after a loss to the Dash on May 2.
Despite the sweep, it was a nice series of firsts for three Blue Rocks. Alfredo Escalera, Humberto Arteaga, and Elier Hernandez each hit their first homeruns since coming up from Low-A Lexington. Hernandez, the 22nd best prospect in the Royals’ system according to Baseball America, hit five homers with the Legends, his last coming on June 28 against Savannah. Arteaga is the least powerful of the three, having only hit eight homeruns in his professional career entering play on Wednesday. Arteaga was signed by the Royals on July 2, 2010. Escalera was the first of the three to get the call to Advanced-A from Lexington, where he hit eight long balls this season. He still had just three extra-base hits in his first 27 games with Wilmington after collecting 24 in 64 games at Low-A.
THEY SAID IT:
Starting Pitcher Matthew Strahm
“It’s huge (to get some momentum at home) heading into this last month, especially in the playoffs. We’ve just got to come out and compete with these next three games at home and carry it into Myrtle Beach.”
“Today I struggled keeping the ball down the whole game. (Eddy Alvarez) came up and got a first pitch fastball right at the belt, and a lot of times you don’t get those back. I’ve ran into it quite a few times since I’ve been up here and I’ve just got to work on keeping the ball down. It’s got to be my focus right now.”
“(Homeruns) have never been (an issue for me). I don’t know if I’m over-throwing or what I’m doing. I’ve just got to get back down in the zone. While in Lexington, I was (low in the zone). I don’t what’s going on with me. I’ll figure it out, talk to (Steve Luebber) and he’ll fix me hopefully.”
“(There are) a lot of guys coming up and down. We lost quite a few guys to Double-A. You’ve got to adjust to it. The guys coming up, they’ll fill in. They’re just getting their feet wet right now. We can turn the corner any second.”
“It’s brutal (playing after a bus ride). (Brian Buchanan) does the best he can for us to get us in there and give us as much time as he can when we get home until we have to get to the field. It’s tough. It’s not fun, but it’s part of the grind.”
Designated Hitter Carlos Garcia
“I’ve been working a lot with (Abraham Nunez) about trying to fix some things with my swing and try to be shorter to the ball and try to put the ball in play. Just do my job and get on base for Mauricio (Ramos), (Ryan) O’Hearn and those type of players (so they) can do their job.”
“We have been talking about (taking more pitches) all season long. I know Abraham Nunez from a couple of years ago. That’s what I have to do, see some pitches and let the other players know what pitches we’re facing that night and if he has movement or velocity. I try to help my teammates know about (the pitcher).”
“I have to do the same job anywhere I go. I have to master that, try to be consistent with that. I have to try to make the pitcher throw a lot of pitches. That’s the type of hitter I have to be.”
“I think my first mistake (in the first inning) was when I went to steal third I ran with my head down so I didn’t know where the ball was. Once I got to third base…I saw Mauricio had struck out or something and I heard Lopez saying, ‘Go four!’ and I didn’t see the ball, I just listened to him and left third base kind of late…I didn’t see the ball, I just tried to get home.”
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