Wilmington, DE - Finishing the most recent road trip up on a good note, the Wilmington Blue Rocks (44-57, 15-16) did not start their seven-game homestand with the same tune as they were beat up by the Frederick Keys (42-59,15-16) 10-3 on Monday night at Frawley Stadium.

Frederick got on the board right away and never relinquished the lead. After Wilmington starter Andy Ferguson retired the first two guys he faced, four straight men reached to tally a trio of runs. Tyler Townsend reached on a single. Jeremy Nowak sent him to second with a base knock of his own. Allan de San Miguel poked a hopper to third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert that bounced off the 19-year-old's glove into left field, as it scored Townsend for a 1-0 Keys lead. Moments later, Steve Bumbry smoked a double to right center field to net a pair of runs and a 3-0 Frederick advantage.

They added a score in the third inning on some small ball. Up 3-1, Trent Mummey got on with a poke base hit. He swiped second base and third base before he came home on a base hit from Nowak to make it 4-1 Frederick.

Wilmington answered with a run in the bottom half, but Frederick had a response ready with a score in the fourth. A one-out triple from Michael Mosby to the left field alley set up an insurance run. He was driven home by the next batter in Garabez Rosa on a rope single and a 5-3 lead. Steve Bumbry unloaded a solo homer in the sixth inning with one out to boost the lead to 6-3.

In the eighth, the Keys put the game to bed. With the bases loaded and two outs against reliever Tyler Sample, freshly called up Roderick Bernadina slammed a laser into the left field bullpen for a grand slam and a 10-3 Keys edge.

Tyler Wilson (5-4) claimed the victory for the Keys. He went six innings of three-run ball with seven strikeouts. Ryan Berry got his eighth save by throwing the last three frames.

Ferguson (1-1) was tagged with his first loss as a Blue Rock. He allowed 10 hits and six runs, including a home run.

After dropping the opener, the Rocks continue this set with the Frederick Keys on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. Wilmington's RHP Jason Adam (2-10, 3.69) will tangle with a Frederick pitcher to be announced. Broadcast coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. as studio host Rob Cunningham brings fans the Rocks Report Pre-game Show, presented by Wawa, on 89.7 WGLS-FM and online at wgls.rowan.edu.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Matt Fields homered for the 11th time in 21 ballgames. He is now tied for the team lead with Brett Eibner. By comparison, it took Eibner 73 games to reach that mark. If he keeps bashing at the current pace he is currently on, he will end up with approximately 26 homers for the season. Only three Blue Rocks have ever hit 20 or more homers in a season and all three played nearly twice as many games: (Larry Sutton hit 26 over 129 games in 1994; Hugh Walker hit 21 over 126 games in 1993; John Whittleman hit 20 over 123 games last year).

Tyler Sample allowed the first grand slam of the season to Roderick Bernadina. The Rocks as a squad gave up three of them last year, with two of them served up by Sample.

The top of the Wilmington order did all it could on Monday night. Whit Merrifield, Orlando Calixte, Cheslor Cuthbert, Matt Fields and Lane Adams combined to go 10-for-24 with four runs, five RBI and four extra-base hits. The sixth through ninth hitters combined for two hits.

Geulin Beltre added two more outfield assists to his ledger on Monday. Turning a 7-3 double play in the fourth inning as well as cutting down a runner at home plate in the third frame. He now has 15 on the season, second best for outfielders in the Carolina League.

The Blue Rocks allowed a season-high for individual baserunner thefts when Trent Mummey took three bags on Monday night. The previous had been two, which was done four previous times with the most recent one coming on June 11 when Shannon Wilkerson of Salem did it.

Tyler Townsend, a native of Lewes, DE, made his return to the area with the Frederick Keys on Monday night. Townsend had a hit in four trips and scored a run.

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