Rocks bats and Lamb arm spark win in Virginia...

Woodbridge, VA - John Lamb and the Wilmington Blue Rocks had a game full of bang and glitter as they squared off against the Potomac Nationals. The Blue Rocks set the pace early by scoring five runs in the top of the first inning, which proved to be more than enough runs support for the teenage lefty, Lamb.

Lamb matched a season high for the length of his performance last night while he allowed only 3 hits, 0 runs, 10 strike-outs and 0 walks. The 10 Ks also matched his professional baseball career high totals and seemed to put an exclamation point on his recent acknowledgement by Baseball America’s mid season All-Star “honorable mention” award. The Kansas City Royals were the only Major League Baseball team to have 4 players mentioned by the Baseball America honor.



All but a couple of Blue Rocks had hits on "Independence Day" as they pounded the Nationals pitching staff to win by the final score of 13-4. The standouts were Eric Hosmer with two home runs and Salvador Perez with a 4-for-5 effort and a game high 4 runs batted in. Jamie Romak also had 4 hits as the Rocks sent a total of four out of the ballpark. Colon, Francis and Myers all had multiple hits during the lopsided game which allowed for some extra players to get involved, as well.
 
 
The Advanced Class A Carolina League contest was seen by more than 9,000 minor league baseball fans and surely most were happy to see it end for the second phase of fireworks following the game. Tonight’s win has positioned the Rocks on top of the standings and with their amount of talent it should be a productive balance to the season.

Lamb will have his last scheduled start as a teenager on Friday, July 9 at the Lynchburg to conclude the recent seven day road trip by the Wilmington Blue Rocks.
 
 
- - - James Lamb

Royal seats for the baseball family...

Friday, July 2nd, we were blessed with the VIP treatment by my son’s agency that represents him in the business of professional baseball. Earlier in the week we were contacted by the West Coast Sports Management, Inc. side of the Gersch Agency and invited to the opening night game of the Kansas City Royals series in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.




We had no idea of the VIP suite involved until the confirmation phone call indicated our seating arrangements. My wife, Colleen, John Valek, III, the young man staying with us from Florida, his new friend, Brooke Nelson and myself were overwhelmed with the gracious accommodations offered by the recent merger of the two sports agencies. We were also blessed with the opportunity to spend the evening with Bret Saberhagen, his family and some friends during the game.

We really appreciated the “royal” treatment for our family and friends. Thanks again to the Gersch Agency and the West Coast Sports Management group for their graciousness.



During the game it was announced on the Major League Baseball site by Dick Kaegel that John Lamb and recently called up teammate Wil Myers were accorded as honorable mentions to the Baseball America’s midsummer Minor League all-star game. With Lamb, Myers, Hosmer and Moustakas representing the Royals this makes the Kansas City organization the only team with four honors.




As of Friday, Eric Hosmer was batting .351 with 43 RBIs and 36 extra-base hits for Class A Wilmington. Mike Moustakas was batting .343 with 19 homers and 67 RBIs for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. John Lamb was 3-2 with a 1.77 ERA for Wilmington after being 2-3 with a 1.58 ERA for Class A Burlington. Wil Myers had 10 homers and 45 RBIs with a .289 average for Burlington and was just promoted to Wilmington.



Great job Royals farm system…the future looks very bright for the Blue Crew!
 
 
 
- - - James Lamb
 
Baseball Prospect Guide

Lamb and Blue Rocks solid to start second half of season!

A solid start to the second half of the Advanced Class A level season for the Wilmington Blue Rocks, Kansas City Royals affiliation, came off the arm of John Lamb. You can’t do much better than the 2-0 win over the Salem Red Sox in front of the home crowd on Zack Greinke bobble-head night.

John Lamb pitched his longest outing of the season by going six and two-thirds and starting the combined shut-out effort with the Blue Rocks bull-pen. Lamb matched a season high mark of 9 strike-outs during tonight‘s contest, with 2 walks and 4 hits. He did receive some solid help with a defensive effort on an 8-4-2 play at the plate which saw Salvador Perez hold onto the ball following a collision at the plate early in the game. Just enough hitting during this Carolina League pitching duel gave the Blue Rocks the win, which included a big-fly from Eric Hosmer.



Got some encouraging news from the stands, via text messages, that Lamb was 90-94 on the radar guns and commanding all 3 pitches in his pocket during his 15th start of his first full season assignment in professional baseball. The news came from one of the Royals best retired pitchers, Bret Saberhagen, so I am comfortable sharing the back-stop updates on the velocity of my son’s pitches.



The household took a big sigh of relief as Lamb begins the uncharted territory of his minor league career. This is his first full-season since signing with the Kansas City Royals following the 2008 draft selection and we couldn’t be more proud of his 19 year-old efforts.



So now we get to sit back and relax for the next four days until his next start on the hill.



GO BLUE ROCKS!


- - - James Lamb


Baseball Prospect Guide

Lamb dazzles again as Blue Rocks take the series!

Wilmington Blue Rocks took the series from the Potomac Nationals in front of a nearly 4 thousand fans earlier today with a 9-4 victory. Starter John Lamb (2-1, 1.50) was given an early lead by his team. Lamb matched a season high nine strike-outs and allowed only one run during the six inning performance.

Five of the six frames Lamb faced the minimum to get the outs. The only inning of miscue started with a lead-off triple in the fourth, but the threat was closed by a couple of strike-outs to leave two Nationals’ base-runners on the pond. Lamb finished the game strong by retiring the last eight batters he faced and getting five consecutive whiffs in that process.



I believe that every Blue Rocks hitter contributed with a hit during today’s win, except one. Salvador Perez was a home-run shy of hitting for the cycle. Eric Hosmer continues to hit the Carolina League pitching and Jamie Romak extended his streak to hitting safely in 14 games.



Next series will start tomorrow night in Wilmington, DE against the Kinston Indians at 7:05 ET.



GO BLUE ROCKS!



Some extra thoughts:



We were all simply losing our mind today, just prior to the scheduled first-pitch, due to the technical troubles on the Blue Rocks radio broadcast. Fortunately, the Nationals feed of the game was working and we would sincerely like to thank them for the kind words rendered during the game, while my son was shutting them down. I have always believed that the game of baseball encompasses a tremendous class of people and the opposing broadcast crew, reassured that stance.



The Lamb family would like to thank all of you that are involved with professional baseball, both on and off the field. Without your efforts the challenges associated with the lives of young men in professional baseball would be even more difficult. We look forward to meeting some of you in the very near future to thank you in person for all your services to the game.



- - - James Lamb

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