Lynch Brilliant Again in Wilmington Win

Salem, VA- Six scoreless innings from Daniel Lynch  coupled with opportunistic offense led the Wilmington Blue Rocks to a 2-0 victory over the Salem Red Sox on Monday at Haley Toyota Field. The win was the Rocks' sixth in their last seven games and it improved Wilmington to a season-best ten games above .500 overall on the season.

Lynch (3-2) was magnificent. The Blue Crew's Opening Day starter won for the first time in three tries against Salem by holding the Red Sox to just three hits. Lynch pitched to contact, fanning only two while throwing 57 of his 93 pitches for strikes. He has now gone two straight starts without allowing a run.
The Rocks got their scores without producing an RBI-hit. Wilmington went in front in the fourth inning thanks to a wild pitch. Brewer Hicklen  started the inning with a double and eventually dashed home when Dylan Thompson uncorked one that snuck away from catcher Nick Sciortino. Cristian Perez  added to the lead when he scored on an errant pickoff toss by Thompson (0-2) in the fifth.
The Wilmington bullpen made sure the lead held up. The trio of Holden Capps and Tyler Zuber each posted a goose egg in relief. Zuber fanned all three batters he faced in the ninth to nail down his seventh save of the season.
The Blue Crew continue their seven-day, eight-game road trip when on Tuesday at Salem. Right-hander Brady Singer  gets the ball for Wilmington with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. Fans can catch all the action with the Voice of the Blue Rocks Cory Nidoh on 89.7 WGLS-FM. Wilmington returns to Frawley Stadium on Friday for a four-game homestand. Tickets are available at BlueRocks.com.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
The Blue Rocks turned in their fifth shutout of the 2019 season, which leads the Carolina League. The Rocks have held their opponents off the scoreboard thrice in the span of the last week and four times in the month of May. Wilmington shutout only seven opponents all of last season. One of the reason for the success has been a starting staff that features three first round picks (Daniel Lynch, Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar) and top-25 prospect Daniel Tillo. That quarter has combined to allow just one total earned run over their last five collective outings.
The Blue Crew have excelled in close games this season. Wilmington leads the Carolina League with 18 contests decided by a single score in 2019 and have played 27 contests with a margin of victory of two-or-less. The Rocks are an impressive 21-6 in those close calls including 15-3 in one-run affairs. They are also stellar at holding late leads, going 15-1 when taking an advantage into the eighth inning and 17-0 when leading after eight.
Wilmington has had an odd schedule to start the 2019 season. Wilmington opened the campaign with a series against Salem and then played 17 consecutive games against CL South opponents. The Rocks went 9-8 during that stretch. The Blue Crew are now in the midst of playing 24 out of 26 against the CL North. The Rocks are 15-6 so far during this divisional-heavy portion of the slate and 15-8 on the year against CL North foes.