BIANCHI'S TWO-RUN SAC FLY KEYS 7-5 WIN

Woodbridge, VA - A rare two-run sacrifice fly by Jeff Bianchi provided go-ahead scores in the 10th inning as the Blue Rocks tallied the game's last five runs to beat the Potomac Nationals on Wednesday night, 7-5. The Rocks took two of three on the series and in the process, took ownership of second place from the defending champs. Wilmington produced a winning road trip, going 4-2 on its last journey of the first half. Mike Moustakas belted his team-leading eighth homer and drove in three runs. He now leads the squad with 42 RBIs. Brandon Sisk (2-2) got the win in relief and Juan Abreu earned his sixth save in six tries. The Blue Rocks have won nine of their last 11 games in surging to a season-best nine games above .500.

Down 5-2 in the seventh, All-Star outfielder David Lough homered on the first pitch of the inning from reliever Adam Carr to start the comeback bid. Two batters later, Johnny Giavotella drew a pinch-hit walk on four pitches and advanced to third on a Ryan Eigsti single. Jamar Walton made that advancement count with a sacrifice fly to center field.

Anthony Seratelli began the eighth with a triple to right-center and Moustakas earned his third RBI of the night with a right-side groundout to tie the game, 5-5. The Blue Rocks bullpen kept it there as three relievers combined on 4.1 scoreless innings, bridging the way to the 10th. Sisk faced the minimum over the eighth and ninth, striking out two.

In the top of the 10th, Derrick Robinson walked and Seratelli dropped down a sac bunt. Pitcher Jesse Estrada (0-1) and first baseman Chris Marrero nearly collided in a fielding attempt before Marrero flipped to second baseman Dan Nelson covering at first who dropped the ball. Moustakas advanced the runners with a groundout to short and that brought up Bianchi who drilled a ball to deep center. Boomer Whiting made the catch, but both runners tagged and advanced. Robinson scored easily while a relay throw beat Seratelli to the plate, but the utility man's slide jarred the ball free for a two-run sac fly.

Abreu allowed the tying run to bat after Nelson drew a two-out, full-count walk. The closer made sure that was all, as he whiffed Marrero to end the game.

Starter Danny Duffy left trailing 3-2. He allowed five runs (three earned) on a season-high nine hits over 5.2 innings and struck out five. The All-Star departed with the bases loaded in the sixth after a Francisco Plasencia single on his 98th pitch of the night. Zach Peterson allowed two of those runners to score on an Aaron Seuss hit that combined with a Seratelli throwing error.

The Blue Rocks return home to close out the first half with five games in four days against the Winston-Salem Dash. The series opens on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. with Wilmington right-hander Alex Caldera (1-4, 6.36) facing righty Levi Maxwell (1-8, 5.51). It will be a pitching rematch of the Blue Crew's lone loss in Winston-Salem this past road trip. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a cooler bag courtesy of WSFS Bank. All fans will be treated to the first of two performances from one of the top traveling acts in the country, the Amazing Christopher.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Potomac entered the game a league-best 7-0 in extra-inning games.

After scoring 16 runs over their first eight games against the P-Nats, the Blue Rocks plated 16 tallies over the last two meetings, both Wilmington wins.

Mike Moustakas went 28 games and 107 at-bats between home runs since a May 18 shot against Kyle Weiland at Salem. Each of his three RBIs either gave Wilmington the lead or tied the game. In addition to the game-tying groundout in the eighth, a groundout by the top Royals' prospect plated the game's first run in the opening inning. His lead-off homer on a first-pitch swing pushed the Blue Rocks ahead 2-1 in the fourth.

The Blue Rocks scored seven runs despite going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Catcher Ryan Eigsti nabbed a man trying to steal three times in six Potomac attempts. Only Boomer Whiting eluded his grasp as the small speedster went 3-for-3. Eigsti leads the league in number of men caught (35) and efficiency (.486).