Bubic Spins Gem in Shutout Victory

KINSTON, N.C. - Kris Bubic set the tone early and the offense did more than enough to even up the series against the Down East Wood Ducks as the Wilmington Blue Rocks earned a 5-0 wire-to-wire victory Saturday night at Grainger Stadium. The left-hander tossed seven scoreless innings and picked up seven strikeouts as the Rocks' offense pounded out 12 hits in the victory to even up the three-game series.

Bubic was given a lead before he even stepped on the mound. The Rocks scored two batters into the game as Kyle Kasser singled for one of his three hits on the night, to start the game and then scored on  Blake Perkins  double to the left-center field wall to make it a quick 1-0 lead. After Perkins moved over to third on a Kyle Isbel single, Dennicher Carrasco scored Perkins on an RBI sacrifice fly to give Bubic a 2-0 lead. That was more than enough for the southpaw as he started his outing racking up six of his seven punch outs through his first four innings of work.
In the top of the fourth, Wilmington was at it again when MJ Melendez smashed an opposite-field two-run homer to double up the Blue Rocks' lead, 4-0. Bubic continued to keep the Wood Ducks from taking flight and allowed four base runners over his final three innings of work to turn in the quality start.
Wilmington added one more run in the seventh for good measure on an RBI single from Kasser to score Colby Schultz who led the frame off with a double. Robert Garcia tossed the final two innings in relief to preserve the shutout victory.
The Rocks wrap up their weekend road trip to Down East on Sunday. Left-hander Austin Cox (2-2, 2.36) gets the start for Wilmington with first pitch slated for 1:00 p.m. Fans can catch all the action with the Voice of the Blue Rocks Cory Nidoh on 89.7 WGLS-FM.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Four has been the magic number for the Blue Rocks in 2019. When Wilmington scores four or more runs the team is 39-6, but when the offense produces three tallies or fewer they are just 24-36. The shutout victory also marked the 11^th time this year the Blue Rocks blanked an opponent. It was the second time in last three games Wilmington earned a shutout victory, holding Potomac without a run on Thursday night.
The Rocks made their first trip to Grainger Stadium all season on Friday. Overall Wilmington has traveled exceedingly well in 2019. The Rocks are 34-22 in away games this season, the second-best road record in the 10-team loop. One of the reasons for the road success has been the Rocks' ability to hit for power. They have hit 39 of their 45 home runs in 2019 away from the friendly confines of Frawley Stadium. Wilmington has not exactly been bad at home however, sporting a 29-20 mark in the First State.