Machado, Rocks Dominate Red Sox

Wilmington, DE -  Starting pitcher Andres Machado racked up a career-high 14 strikeouts and Chris DeVito drove in four runs in a Wilmington Blue Rocks' 8-3 win over the Salem Red Sox Saturday night at Frawley Stadium. Machado dominated the Salem lineup, including a stretch of six consecutive strikeouts, retired nine straight men at one point in the ballgame and struck out the side in two different innings. DeVito finished with a season-high four RBIs in the game while D.J. Burt reached base five times in the victory.

The story of the contest was the masterful performance on the hill for Machado. After allowing a run in the second inning on an RBI double from Jeremy Rivera, Machado carved up the Red Sox lineup. He went on to retire nine straight batters, including six consecutive strikeouts from the third through the fifth innings. The righty finished with 14 strikeouts, just one walk, allowed an earned run on six hits. The 14 strikeouts set a single-game high for a Blue Rock pitcher this season and fell three shy of the franchise record.
Trailing by the single run, Wilmington went on and scored four unanswered runs, highlighted by a three-run, nine batter third inning. Burt tied the game with an RBI single to make it 1-1 before Brandon Downes and DeVito strung together consecutive run-scoring singles to put the Rocks ahead 3-1. In the fourth inning, the Blue Crew added another run on a wild pitch, increasing their lead, 4-1.
The Rocks were back at it again in the sixth inning when DeVito clubbed a majestic two-run blast over the right centerfield wall to extend Wilmington's lead, 6-1. In the seventh inning, Roman Collins laced a one-out triple and scored on a wild pitch to break the game open 7-1. DeVito drove in his fourth run of the night with a RBI single in the eighth to pad the lead, 8-1. Salem would add single tallies in the final two innings to give the game its final score, 8-3.
Wilmington continues the four-game series with Salem on Sunday, July 2 with first pitch slated for 6:05 p.m. at Frawley Stadium. RHP Scott Blewett (4-6, 4.25 ERA) makes the start for the Blue Rocks while RHP Roniel Raudes (2-4, 5.14 ERA) climbs the hill for the Red Sox. Fans can listen to the game as Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh will have the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
The Blue Rocks started off July with a bang, beating the Salem Red Sox 8-3 on Saturday night for their third victory of the second half. It was a swoon June for the Rocks, who opened the month with a 13-5 hot streak and ended it with a 2-7 record after the All-Star break. The offense put together one of their best showings in the second half Saturday as six different Blue Rocks recorded a hit with four players racking up multiple hits in the win.
Andres Machado was spectacular in his start on Saturday night. The right hander struck out a career-high 14 batters in seven innings of work on only 102 pitches. The 14 strikeouts are the most in a start for a Blue Rocks pitcher. The previous water mark on the season was held by Scott Blewett, who struck out 12 hitters back on June 22^, ironically against Salem. Machado was just three whiffs shy of tying former Kansas City Royal Glendon Rusch, who struck out 17 batters for the Blue Rocks back on August 7, 1995.
D.J. Burt was the spark at the plate the Blue Rocks needed. The second baseman reached base five times on Saturday night, stroking three singles, drawing two walks, swiping two bags, scoring twice and adding a pair of RBIs on the night. It was the first time in Burt's career that he reached base five times. The three hit day marked the 17th time this year Burt tallied multiple hits in a game. In his last six games, Burt has recorded three multi-hit games, hitting .380 (8-for-21) in that span.
Chris DeVito played a big part in Saturday's win against Salem, driving in four runs on three hits, including a two-run home run. The blast was his fifth of the year with Wilmington his and his first hit in front of the home crowd at Frawley Stadium. The slugging first baseman has 16 in total this year. It is also the fifth time DeVito has knocked in four runs in a game on the year and is the second time he has done so with Wilmington. Brandon Downes and Chase Vallot are the only other Blue Rocks to drive in four runs during a game in 2017. 
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
The Blue Rocks started off July with a bang, beating the Salem Red Sox 8-3 on Saturday night for their third victory of the second half. It was a swoon June for the Rocks, who opened the month with a 13-5 hot streak and ended it with a 2-7 record after the All-Star break. The offense put together one of their best showings in the second half Saturday as six different Blue Rocks recorded a hit with four players racking up multiple hits in the win.
Andres Machado was spectacular in his start on Saturday night. The right hander struck out a career-high 14 batters in seven innings of work on only 102 pitches. The 14 strikeouts are the most in a start for a Blue Rocks pitcher. The previous water mark on the season was held by Scott Blewett, who struck out 12 hitters back on June 22^, ironically against Salem. Machado was just three whiffs shy of tying former Kansas City Royal Glendon Rusch, who struck out 17 batters for the Blue Rocks back on August 7, 1995.
D.J. Burt was the spark at the plate the Blue Rocks needed. The second baseman reached base five times on Saturday night, stroking three singles, drawing two walks, swiping two bags, scoring twice and adding a pair of RBIs on the night. It was the first time in Burt's career that he reached base five times. The three hit day marked the 17th time this year Burt tallied multiple hits in a game. In his last six games, Burt has recorded three multi-hit games, hitting .380 (8-for-21) in that span.
Chris DeVito played a big part in Saturday's win against Salem, driving in four runs on three hits, including a two-run home run. The blast was his fifth of the year with Wilmington his and his first hit in front of the home crowd at Frawley Stadium. The slugging first baseman has 16 in total this year. It is also the fifth time DeVito has knocked in four runs in a game on the year and is the second time he has done so with Wilmington. Brandon Downes and Chase Vallot are the only other Blue Rocks to drive in four runs during a game in 2017. 
THEY SAID IT:Jamie Quirk
"(Andres Machado) had great fastball command, he challenged and went after everybody. Charlie Corbell and I actually talked to him after his last starter and he put some things into play which we talked about. Sometimes he actually throws too many strikes. He threw, what we call, strikes at the right time and ball-strikes at the right time. He got (Salem) to chase a lot of pitches running out of the strike zone, but those come because you are ahead in the count. He did a very good job of staying aggressive, staying ahead in the count. 14 strikeouts, that's a big number.
"I don't think you ever expect 14 strikeouts. He is starting to build up. You know this is a kid who missed a whole year in 2015 and he is building himself back up. He has that ability. He's got a nice fastball, I wouldn't call it a dominate fastball but he pitches with his fastball, he gets a lot of outs with his fastball. He kept runners off base. If you look at his numbers going into today, which we talked to him about, with nobody on base, his batting average against is phenomenal. Then all of a sudden he gets a little traffic and he has had difficulty getting people out, especially with two-outs in the inning. (Saturday), early he had a couple base runners on with two-outs and he got out of it. I think that was a big turning point for him. He will get going, everything is fine, all of a sudden they get a little something going and he can't close the inning out. I think he ran with it. It was the second inning when (Salem) scored and it was only one run. If you look at his past history, he would give up a crooked number there. That was big for him to get out and continue on. His progression is fine, started in the bullpen and now starting, you can't ask for anything more."
Andres Machado, Pitcher: "My slider wasn't working the last two outings so tonight (Saturday) I tried to make it a good pitch, a quality pitch. That's what I was throwing on the mound, hitter by hitter and inning by inning. I think I had my best stuff (Saturday night). That's what helped me today in getting 14 strikeouts and six in a row. This is my first time throwing 14 strikeouts and going seven innings. I wasn't looking for strikeouts; I was looking for contact with hitters. When I got the opportunity to get a strikeout, I made good pitches and (Salem) swung at a lot of them. Making the first pitch a strike and keep moving (the ball) around home plate (has been the key to his rise in strikeouts recently). I tried to do a good job today with that and that's what happened.
I didn't feel really good (in the bullpen). I felt tired because it was humid today but when I started warming up I was feeling better. I didn't feel tired (during the start), I felt good. I knew this was my first time going seven innings. After the fifth inning I felt better and I was throwing hard. (Making the transition from reliever to starting) is a little bit difficult because you come into a bullpen and you don't have a daily routine. When you are doing that, it is a little bit difficult but you keep doing good work and making adjustments."