MEDIA INFORMATION Buies Creek Astros (60-47 / 23-15, T-1St, -- GB / Southern) Carolina League Affiliate of the Houston Astros Vs
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MEDIA INFORMATION Buies Creek Astros (60-47 / 23-15, T-1st, -- GB / Southern) Carolina League Affiliate of the Houston Astros vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks (55-52 / 24-13, 1st, -- GB / Northern) Carolina League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals Game No. 108 / 38 • Road Game No. 55 • Jim Perry Stadium • Wednesday, August 1, 2018 • 6:00 p.m. Tonight’s Starters BLUE ROCKS BREAKDOWN WIL: RHP Ofreidy Gomez (4-8, 3.87 ERA) HOME: 29-24 | AWAY: 26-28 | STREAK: L1 | LAST 5: 3-2 | LAST 10: 8-2 vs. BLUE ROCKS DROP SERIES OPENER TO ASTROS: The Wilmington Blue Rocks dropped the BC: RHP Brandon Bailey (5-8, 2.71 ERA) series opener against the Buies Creek Astros by the score of 7-2 Tuesday night at Jim Perry Stadium. Buies Creek scored early and often through the first six innings as Wilmington was unable to keep -Righty Ofreidy Gomez makes 21st appearance of the season and 16th pace with the Astros in the opener. Shortstop Angelo Castellano led the offense with three hits in the start with the Blue Rocks tonight. setback while Gabriel Cancel and Emmanuel Rivera each drove in a run. -He also is making his first start against Buies Creek. -He signed as an international free agent on May 10, 2012. ROCKS LOOKING TO MAKE IT FIVE STRAIGHT SERIES VICTORIES: Entering the series -Top 30 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com. (#30) against Buies Creek, the Rocks have won their last four consecutive series. -Last time out on July 26 against Salem, he earned the victory. -The Rocks took three of four at Lynchburg from July 18-20 before sweeping Frederick in a three-game series -He turned in a quality start and lasted 6.1 innings, allowed three runs July 22-23 to close out a 6-1 road trip. (two earned) on seven hits, walked two and struck out a batter. -The Blue Crew returned to the Riverfront and kept the winning going, and used a three-game sweep over -The righty has been solid in his last seven outings and has allowed an Salem to start the six-game homestand before winning two of three over the Astros over the weekend. earned run or less in four of them and has posted a solid 3.16 ERA during -Wilmington won 11 of its 13 games during that stretch and outscored opponents 72-52. that span. -During that span, the Rocks also won eight straight games from July 20-28, marking the longest winning -Has the eighth-lowest ERA in the Carolina League and in the Royals’ farm streak for the club since 2009. system. HATE TO SEE JULY GO: The Blue Rocks continue to play some of their best baseball in the second half -Ranks second amongst active Wilmington pitchers in innings pitched with their performance in July being a vital reason for Wilmington’s success. (93) and strikeouts (73). -Wilmington closed out the month of July with a 19-9 record which was the best record of any team in the -Spent last season with Low-A Lexington which was his first year in full CL during the month. season baseball. -The Rocks as a team hit .277, the highest batting average of any month this season and also scored more -With the Legends, he posted a 7-12 record with a 5.18 ERA in 28 games runs (155) then they did in any previous month. including 22 starts. He tossed 137.1 innings and allowed 162 hits, 92 -The Blue Rocks also have the highest winning percentage of any team in the second half at .649. (Winston-Salem runs,79 earned, 46 and Buies Creek tied for second .605, 23-15) walks and struck out 108 batters. -Wilmington has either been atop of the division or out of the top spot by just one game since July 11 and -The 23-year-old Dominican Republic native led the team in and made have led the division since July 18 and hold a 3.5 game lead over second place Lynchburg. career highs in starts, innings pitched, strikeouts and was tied for second -The Blue Rocks also have not been below .500 at any point this half. (Have been at .500 mark four times) in games pitched. -The Rocks are currently 21-9 against Northern Division foes in the second half which is the best mark in -Features a fastball, curveball and changeup the division. -Fellow right-hander Brandon Bailey makes his 20th appearance and BATTLE OF THE STOLEN BASE CROWN: The Blue Rocks and Buies Creek Astros have jockeyed 16th start of the season with Buies Creek. for the top spot in the Carolina League in stolen bases. Wilmington and Buies Creek are tied for the league-lead with 133 stolen bases on the season. -Originally drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the sixth round of the -The Blue Rocks have been stealing bases at a rapid clip in the second half and have stolen 55 bases 2016 Draft out of Gonzaga. through 37 games of the second half. -Was traded to Houston on July 1, 2017 for a minor league outfielder. -Wilmington has four different active players with double-digit stolen bases including D.J. Burt who is -In his last start on July 26 at Potomac he earned the win. the active team-leader and third in the CL with 26, Blake Perkins ranks fourth in the CL with 22 between -Bailey turned in a quality start and tossed six, scoreless innings, allowed five Potomac and Wilmington, Rudy Martin has 18 stolen bases on the year and Travis Jones has 10. hits, walked one and struck out eight batters. -Buies Creek has two active players with double-digit steals in Osvaldo Duarte (20) and Corey Julks (12). -Has not allowed a run over his last four outings which spans 22 innings -The Blue Crew have stolen five bases in six different games this season. (three starts, one relief appearance) -Wilmington is the only team in the Carolina League to steal 20 or more bases in each of the first four -Last time Bailey surrendered runs was back on June 30 against Carolina. (Two months of the season. (37 in April, 20 in May, 37 in June and 38 in July.) earned runs) -They also have an impressive 72% success rate stealing bases this season (132 out of 184). -Thanks to the impressive stretch, Bailey has the third-lowest ERA in the Carolina League. He is also third in the CL in strikeouts (105) and has the second-lowest CAN COUNT ON CANCEL: InfielderGabriel Cancel has been a major run producer for the Blue Rocks batting average against (.211). over the last month and added another RBI -Has worked a total of 89.2 innings, allowed 68 hits, 30 runs (27 earned), -Cancel has driven in 46 runs over his last 44 games and has also put together 14 multi-RBI games during walked 42 and has struck out 105 batters. the stretch and leads the team with 17 games driving in multiple runs. -He currently is the team leader, second amongst Royals’ farmhands in RBI and ranks third in the CL with -Spent last year between Low-A Beloit and Advanced-A Stockton. 66 runs batted in on the season. -Posted a composite 3.26 ERA in 24 games with 17 being starts. -Cancel drove in 26 runs in 27 games in the month of July. -91.0 IP, 68H, 33R/33ER, 31BB, 120K, .206 BAA -When batting third, the infielder is hitting .281 (27-for-96) with 25 RBI in 25 games. -With Gonzaga, racked up 17 strikeouts in the West Coast Conference Baseball -When he bats cleanup, Cancel is a .329 hitter (26-for-79) with 22 RBI in 21 games. Championship on May 27, 2016. He threw 138 pitches in the game. -Helped lead Gonzaga to its first ever at large birth into the NCAA Baseball BURT PROVIDING THE HURT: Second-year Blue Rock D.J. Burt is not suffering from a sophomore Championship. slump in the Carolina League and was named a Carolina League All-Star. -Features a fastball, changeup and slider. -He is third in the CL in on-base percentage (.397), third in the Carolina League in stolen bases (26), and tied for fourth in batting average (.304) 2018 Regular Season Series: WIL vs. BC (Series Tied, 2-2) -He picked up a hit in 20 of 24 games in July to help him post a .330 batting average (31-for-94) with two 2017 Regular-Season Series: WIL vs. BC (BC Won Series 6-3) homers, 18 RBI and a .404 OBP. -Tied for first on team with 27 multi-hit games. (Had 20 all of last season) Date Site Result WP LP Save -The 22-year-old has served as the Rocks’ utility man this season, making 26 starts at third base, 22 at second base, 10 at shortstop and nine in left field. 7-27 WIL PPD Make Up Scheduled for 7-28 7-28 WIL W, 1-0 Garabito (5-6) Javier (3-3) Zuber (6) PERKINS FITTING IN NICELY: Since joining Wilmington to start the second half of the season after 7-28 WIL (G2) L, 3-0 Ivey (2-3) Tillo (2-2) McKee (5) being one of three players traded from Washington to Kansas City in the Kelvin Herrera trade, outfielder Blake Perkins has been a catalyst atop the lineup for the Blue Rocks. 7-29 WIL W, 7-2 Watson (5-1) Saldana (8-2) -With a walk on Tuesday, he currently pushed his on-base streak to 17 games which is a season-high and one 7-31 BC L, 7-2 Valdez (6-4) Sotillet (1-2) game shy of tying the longest on-base streak by a Blue Rock this season (Khalil Lee, 18 games) -During the stretch, Perkins is hitting .288 (15-for-52) with an impressive .507 on-base percentage.