Blue Rocks Drop Series Finale Against Brooklyn

After a back-and-forth week between the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the two teams have officially tied their series, 3-3, and Brooklyn took the final game, 6-5.

Brooklyn was the first to get the scoring started at the top of the third inning after a single from center fielder Alex Ramirez sent in both Gregory Guerrero and Matt Rudick to give the Cyclones a solid head-start for the remainder of the game.

However, Wilmington refused to let Brooklyn gain any momentum, and ended the third inning with four runs under their belt. The first came off of a fielder's choice by Brooklyn’s third baseman, William Lugo, that allowed both second basemen Cole Daily to score and Jose Sanchez to reach first.

Following a wild pitch by Brookyln’s starter, Luis Moreno, Ricardo Mendez and Sanchez would move to third and second base, respectively, to be in scoring position. After Robert Hassell III walked, catcher Onix Vega hit an RBI single to send Mendez home and keep the bases loaded. Yasel Antuna followed this with a ground out towards second base that had Sanchez running for a 3-2 lead. The Blue Rocks would cap the inning off with a single from Kevin Strohschein to score Hassell and end the inning 4-2.

The fourth inning would see an attempted comeback from the Cyclones as they scored two more runs over the course of the half inning. Left fielder Jaylen Palmer was the first to send in Stanley Consuegra on an RBI single that inched Brooklyn closer to a tie. After Guerrero walked and Wilmington made their first pitching change of the game to bring Amos Willingham onto the mound, Rudick hit a single off a line drive down left field to score Jose Mena and tie the game 4-4.

Still, the Blue Rocks moved to salvage their lead at the bottom of the fourth. After Daily hit a single towards right field and stole second base, Mendez hit an RBI single to send Daily home and regain the Blue Rocks’ lead, 5-4.

Despite all the early-game hits that put the Blue Rocks in a winning position, the trend of this game was that no lead was safe. Both teams remained scoreless during innings five through eight and looked to close out the game quickly in the ninth.

It was pinch hitter Matt O'Neill that changed the game for Brooklyn with a two-run home run straight over Frawley Stadium to move the needle 6-5 in the Cyclones’ favor. Up until this home run pitch, Wilmington relief pitcher Jose Ferrer had already stuck out one hitter and thrown five strikes out of ten total pitches. Ferrer would continue to strike out the remaining batters but was unable to change the total outcome of the game.

Despite strong pitching, Ferrer would be handed the loss for this game. Brooklyn’s relief pitcher Daison Acosta was deemed victor after allowing only one hit and no runs over his two innings of work.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks will have only one day of rest as they move away to play the Jersey Shore BlueClaws on Tuesday, August 16, for their fourth matchup of the season.