Wilmington, DE- The Wilmington Blue Rocks (60-59 / 29-20) and Lynchburg Hillcats (59-58 / 30-20) battled it out in a pitcher's duel, which was delayed by an hour and 16 minutes prior to the start, in which the Blue Rocks fell short 2-1 after 10 innings on Tuesday night at
Wilmington, DE- The Wilmington Blue Rocks (60-59 / 29-20) and Lynchburg Hillcats (59-58 / 30-20) battled it out in a pitcher's duel, which was delayed by an hour and 16 minutes prior to the start, in which the Blue Rocks fell short 2-1 after 10 innings on Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium. Gerson Garabito had yet another quality start on the mound. The right-hander went six innings, giving up only two hits, one earned run, on five walks while also fanning four batters. With the setback, Wilmington is now a half-game behind Lynchburg in the Northern Division.
Lynchburg took the lead in the top of the 10th. With Dillon Persinger on second and one out, Trenton Brooks hit a sharp grounder to short that was misplayed by Angelo Castellano to put runners on the corners with one out. Gavin Collins blooped a single to right that was just out of the reach of Rudy Martin , Persinger scored to put the Hillcats ahead 2-1. The Blue Rocks entered the bottom of the 10th with Castellano on second. The shortstop advanced to third on a wild pitch by Hillcats' reliever Nick Sandlin. After a groundout and flyout, Gabriel Cancel drew a walk to put runners on the corners with two outs. Emmanuel Rivera struck out swinging to end the game.
Tyler Zuber came on in relief for the Rocks in the top of the ninth. After a five-pitch walk to Jose Medina, Jorma Rodriguez moved his teammate to second on a sacrifice bunt. Medina moved to third on a passed ball by Meibrys Viloria . Austen Wade hit a pop up in foul territory for the second out before Anthony Miller followed up with a full-count walk to put runners on the corners with two outs. Zuber set down Persinger on strikes to strand the runners and keep the game tied going into the bottom of the ninth.
The Blue Rocks jumped out to the early lead in the bottom of the first. Cancel drew a full-count, two-out walk to keep the inning alive. Rivera slapped a deep fly ball into left field that was seemingly tracked down by Lynchburg left fielder Mitch Longo, but the ball landed 10-feet behind him allowing Cancel to score on the RBI triple from Rivera and make it a 1-0 ballgame. The Hillcats tied the game in the top of the fourth. After a one-out walk by Nolan Jones, Rodriguez doubled to right, bringing Jones home to knot the game up at 1-1.
Wilmington will continue the series against Lynchburg on Wednesday, August 15 with a 6:35 p.m. start time. The Blue Rocks will send southpaw Daniel Tillo (2-2, 4.44 ERA) to the mound. The Hillcats will have fellow lefty Sam Hentges (5-6, 3.46 ERA) on the rubber. Fans can also tune into the game with Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh on 89.7 WGLS-FM.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE
Starter Gerson Garabito turned in his sixth consecutive quality start with six innings of one run ball. He allowed just two hits, walked five and struck out four in a no-decision. During that stretch, Garabito has allowed just seven earned runs over his last 38 innings, good for an impressive 1.66 ERA. The righty has now allowed two earned runs or less in 18 of his 22 starts this season. He entered the start fourth in the Royals system in ERA and fifth in the Carolina League.
With the loss Tuesday night, the Rocks are now a half game behind the Lynchburg Hillcats in the Northern Division. It's the first time since July 17 the Blue Rocks have not led the Northern Division in the second half. The loss was just the seventh setback for the Blue Rocks against the Hillcats. The Rocks still lead the head-to-head matchup through the first 21 games with a 14-7 record.
The extra-inning affair marked the third time both the Blue Rocks and Hillcats needed more than nine innings to decide a victor. The Blue Rocks won the previous two extra-inning contests outlasting Lynchburg 12-11 in 10 innings on July 20 and 9-7 in 13 frames on July 7 at Lynchburg. The Blue Rocks are now 4-2 in extra-inning games this season.
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