MEDIA INFORMATION Frederick Keys (53-59 / 18-25, 5th, 9.0 GB / Northern) Carolina League Affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks (57-54 / 26-15, 1st, -- GB / Northern) Carolina League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals Game No. 112 / 42 • Home Game No. 56 • Frawley Stadium • Sunday, August 5, 2018 • 1:35 p.m. Today’s Starters BLUE ROCKS BREAKDOWN WIL: RHP Andre Sotillet (1-2, 4.66 ERA) HOME: 30-25 | AWAY: 27-29 | STREAK: W1 | LAST 5: 2-3 | LAST 10: 6-4 vs. ROCKS SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER WITH KEYS: The Wilmington Blue Rocks managed to split FRE: LHP Alex Wells (4-7, 3.93 ERA) the doubleheader with the Frederick Keys with a narrow 2-1 loss in extra innings in the first game before -Righty Andres Sotillet makes his fifth start with the Blue Rocks and first against a strong 4-2 win in game two on Saturday night at Frawley Stadium. Both starting pitchers for the Blue Frederick. Rocks had outstanding days on the mound. Daniel Tillo threw for six innings while giving up only one -He was signed by the Royals as a free agent on July 30, 2015. run, in the opener. Nolan Watson was the starter in game two and also tossed six innings and gave up -Coming off a loss in his last start on July 31 at Buies Creek. an unearned run in the winning effort. The Blue Rocks remain three games ahead of Lynchburg in the -The outing was cut short due to a 49-minute rain delay. Northern Division. -He worked three innings, allowed two runs (both earned) on four hits, walked one and ANOTHER FOE FINISHED: Sunday’s series finale between the Blue Rocks and Keys will also conclude struck out two. the head-to-head matchup between the two Northern Division rivals. -It was his first loss as a Blue Rock and the second time in four starts he allowed two -The Blue Crew currently lead the series 12-10 and have won their last seven of their last eight against earned runs or less. the Keys. -Earned his first-career, Advanced-A start in his second start with Wilmington on July 19 -The setback in the first game of the doubleheader snapped Wilmington’s six-game winning streak at Lynchburg. against Frederick in which the Rocks outscored the Keys 46-23 in those six games. -Turned in a quality start and lasted 6.2 innings, allowed one run (earned) on six hits, -It was the time the Blue Crew lost to the Keys since July 9 at Frederick (Lost 4-2) walked three and struck out two. -Wilmington wrapped up their season series against Buies Creek earlier in the week and went 3-3 against -The 21-year-old started the season with the Lexington Legends (Low-A/ the Astros, going 2-1 at home and 1-2 on the road. South Atlantic League). -Wilmington finished its series against the Carolina Mudcats in mid-May and went 2-5. -Overall with the Legends, he posted a 6-5 record with a 3.93 ERA in 16 outings including 13 starts with the Legends. HATE TO SEE JULY GO: The Blue Rocks continue to play some of their best baseball in the second half -He worked 89.1 innings, allowed 107 hits, 46R/39ER, walked 13 and struck out 84 with their performance in July being a vital reason for their recent success. while opponents hit .296 against him. -Wilmington closed out the month of July with a 19-9 record which was the best record of any team in the -At the time of his promotion from Low-A, Sotillet led the Legends’ pitching staff in CL during the month. innings pitched (89.1), strikeouts (84), second in starts (13), and tied for fifth in games -The Rocks as a team hit .277, the highest batting average of any month this season and also scored more pitched (16). runs (155) then they did in any previous month. -He enters today’s start second among Royals’ farm hands with his 96 strikeouts and 10th in ERA (4.06)-Spent last season between levels with the AZL Royals, Idaho Falls ROCK SOLID IN THE SECOND HALF: The Blue Rocks have the highest winning percentage of any team Chukars and Burlington Royals. in the second half at .634. (Winston-Salem is second .625, 25-15). -Went a composite 3-4 with a 6.67 ERA in 13 appearances with 12 being starts. -With the win in the second game of the twin bill on Saturday, the Rocks have not lost three straight games in the -Features a fastball, curveball and changeup. second half. (Lost three or more in a row six times in the first half.) -Wilmington has either been atop of the division or out of the top spot by just one game since July 11 and -Lefty Alex Wells makes his 20th start of the season and third against Wilmington. have led the division since July 18 and hold a three game lead over second place Lynchburg and nine game -The Austrailia native was signed as a free agent on August 29, 2015 by Baltimore. lead over the Keys. -In his last start on July 31 against Potomac he suffered the loss. -The Blue Rocks also have not been below .500 at any point this half. (Have been at .500 mark four times) -He worked 5.1 innings, allowed five runs on nine hits, walked on and struck out four -The Rocks are currently 22-10 against Northern Division foes in the second half which is the best mark and gave up a pair of home runs. in the division. -Was named a Carolina League All-Star and was 3-4 with a 3.99 ERA at the time of his announcement. WALK OR RUN THIS WAY: The Blue Rocks have led the Carolina League in walks for the majority -It marked the third straight season Wells was named a mid-season All-Star. (2016 with of the season and also lead the league in stolen bases. Aberdeen and 2017 with Delmarva) -Wilmington has racked up 444 walks this year, 10 more than Potomac who is second in the league. -Against Wilmington: 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA in two starts. -The Rocks have swiped 140 bags through 111 games this year, which paces the league. -Has worked 12.1 innings, allowed three runs on 16 hits, has walked one, to go along -The Blue Crew also have been stealing bases at a rapid clip in the second half and have stolen 63 bases with nine strikeouts. The Blue Rocks are hitting .320 against him. through 41 games of the second half. -Spent last season with Low-A Delmarva and turned in an All-Star campaign. -Wilmington has four different active players with double-digit stolen bases including D.J. Burt who is -Went 11-5 with a solid 2.38 ERA in 25 starts. the active team-leader and third in the CL with 27, Blake Perkins ranks fourth in the CL with 22 between -Worked 140 innings, allowed 118 hits, 49 runs (37 earned) walked 10 and struck out 113 Potomac and Wilmington, Rudy Martin has 18 stolen bases on the year and Travis Jones has 12. -Features a fastball, curveball and changeup. -The Blue Crew have stolen five bases in six different games this season. -Wilmington is the only team in the Carolina League to steal 20 or more bases in each of the first four 2018 Regular-Season Series: WIL vs. FRE (WIL Leads Series, 12-10) months of the season. (37 in April, 20 in May, 37 in June and 38 in July.) -They also have an impressive 73% success rate stealing bases this season (140 out of 191). (Series Tied 13-13 in 2017) Date Site Result WP LP Save CAN COUNT ON CANCEL: Infielder Gabriel Cancel has been a major run producer for the Blue Rocks, especially in the second half. He drove in a run in the second game of the doubleheader Saturday 4-19 FRE W, 15-4 Garabito (1-1) Sedlock (0-2) and on Wednesday at Buies Creek tied the game with an RBI single. 4-20 FRE W, 2-0 Hernandez (1-0) Humpal (0-3) Brickhouse (3) -Cancel has driven in 48 runs over his last 47 games and has also put together 14 multi-RBI games during 4-21 FRE W, 12-10 Becker (1-0) Teague (0-1) Wynne (1) the stretch and leads the team with 17 games driving in multiple runs. 4-22 FRE L, 6-2 Peralta (1-1) Vines (0-4) Kline (1) -He currently is the team leader, second amongst Royals’ farmhands in RBI and also tied for second in 5-4 WIL W, 8-5 Hope (1-0) Jimenez (0-1) Wynne (3) the CL with 68 runs batted in on the season. 5-5 WIL L, 12-9 Araujo (1-0) Bender (1-1) -Cancel drove in 26 runs in 27 games in the month of July. 5-6 WIL L, 3-2 Teague (1-1) Tatum (0-1) Trowbridge (1) -When batting third, the infielder is hitting .282 (29-for-103) with 27 RBI in 27 games. 5-29 WIL L, 2-1 Wells (3-3) Garabito (1-5) Muckenhirn(1) -When he bats cleanup, Cancel is a .333 hitter (28-for-84) with 22 RBI in 22 games. 5-30 WIL L, 5-3 Britton (1-0) Hernandez (5-3) Muckenhirn (2) 5-31 WIL L, 5-2 Baumann (2-0) Hope (1-1) Erwin (3) BURT PROVIDING THE HURT: Second-year Blue Rock D.J.