LATE RALLY EXTINGUISHED AGAIN BY KEYS
For the second straight game, their comeback efforts were halted late by the Frederick Keys (5-4) as they fell 6-4 on Sunday afternoon at Frawley Stadium in their third straight series loss.
After a leadoff single against Walters by Alex McClure in the bottom of the ninth, three consecutive outs were made on the infield by Cheslor Cuthbert, Brian Fletcher and Roman Hernandez as they all represented the tying run.
A big inning from the Keys propelled them to victory in the third. Down a run, a series of miscues by the Wilmington defense resulted in a four-run frame for Frederick. With two outs and a man on against starter Greg Billo, Trent Mummey worked a walk. Ty Kelly then roped a single to right which scored Mark Sweeney and Mummey to give the Keys the 2-1 edge. The ball rolled past Geulin Beltre and Whit Merrifield in the outfield as manager and third base coach Orlando Gomez sent Mummey home all the way from first. A relay throw went to the backstop as Mummey scored with Kelly moving up to second.
After Ronnie Welty was hit with a pitch, Aaron Baker singled home a run to make it 3-1. With runners on the corners, Baker took off for second and when the throw came down from catcher Kenny Swab, Welty broke for home and scored as Swab's throw went into centerfield.
The Rocks answered with a run in the fourth to close the gap to 4-2. The Keys responded the next half inning with a sacrifice fly from Jeremy Nowak against Rocks reliever Sam Runion, who came in for Billo.
Down 5-2 in the eighth, Angel Franco came through with a two-out, two-run single to close the deficit to one run.
Billo started off hot with two perfect frames and two strikeouts. After running into trouble in the third and fourth inning, he finished the day with 3.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out six. He was charged with his second loss.
Kenny Moreland came on in the fourth inning to relieve starter Rick Zagone. After allowing his first three men to reach base, he faced the minimum of twelve to limit the Rocks to one run and evened his record at 1-1 with the victory.
After their third series loss in a row, the Blue Rocks will welcome in the Carolina Mudcats for a three-game set with the opener slated for Monday night at 6:35 p.m. Wilmington right-hander Leondy Perez (0-0, 3.00) takes the mound against righty Danny Salazar (0-1, 7.36). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:05 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:
The Blue Rocks have sent four or fewer hitters to the plate in 62 of their last 78 innings.
In their last three games, the Blue Rocks are only 4-for-27 with RISP. They went 2-for-14 on Sunday afternoon.
The Blue Rocks matched a season high on Sunday in men left on bases with 10. They also stranded 10 on Friday night against Frederick.
While the situational hitting is not quite there, the Blue Rocks offense was very patient on Sunday as they set a season high in walks as a team with seven free passes.
Starting pitcher Greg Billo is touted for his control. He continued that on Sunday as he walked only one guy in 3.2 innings pitched. That is his only walk issued in 8.2 innings.
Angel Franco had a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded in the eighth inning. In the two at-bats he has with the bases loaded this season, he has delivered four RBIs, the highest on the team.