Winston-Salem, N.C. - The right arm of Winston-Salem's starter Dylan Cease was too much to overcome as the Wilmington Blue Rocks dropped the series opener in their final series of the first half by the score of 8-2 Thursday night at BB&T Ballpark. Khalil Lee and D.J. Burt each drove
Winston-Salem, N.C. - The right arm of Winston-Salem's starter Dylan Cease was too much to overcome as the Wilmington Blue Rocks dropped the series opener in their final series of the first half by the score of 8-2 Thursday night at BB&T Ballpark. Khalil Lee and D.J. Burt each drove in a run while Nick Heath paced the offense with three of the five hits for the Blue Rocks.
The Blue Rocks manufactured a run in their first look at Cease, the Southern Division All-Star, who tossed eight strong innings for the Dash. Heath led the game off with a single and advanced to second on a Burt sacrifice bunt. Heath then stole third base before Lee drove him home on an RBI groundout to take a 1-0 lead. However, that would be the only advantage the Blue Rocks would enjoy. The Dash quickly responded with a pair of runs in their initial look at Blue Rocks' starter Ofreidy Gomez on a single by Gavin Sheets and an error on the play to allow a second run to score to make it a 2-1 deficit for Wilmington.
In the third inning, the Dash added another run on a Yermin Mercedes RBI double. In the fifth inning, Gomez uncorked a wild pitch to allow another run to score before Mercedes widened the gap with a two-run home run to left center field to put the Blue Rocks behind 6-1. Winston-Salem added single scores in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Booker before Micker Adolfo doubled home another run in the seventh to break the game open, 8-1. Burt put the Blue Rocks back on the board with an RBI single to center field to score Vance Vizcaino to give the game its final score, 8-2.
Wilmington and Winston-Salem play the second game of the four-game series on Friday, June 15 at BB&T Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with the Blue Rocks calling upon righty Gerson Garabito (2-5, 4.35 ERA) while the Dash will send right-hander Luis Martinez (3-4, 4.17 ERA) to the mound. Fans can listen to the game as Matt Janus will have the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.
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Outfielder Nick Heath led the offense with a trio of hits and has boosted his average to .286 on the season. It was Heath's sixth, three-hit game of the season, which is the most by any Blue Rock this season. Overall, Heath has eight total multi-hit games this season. He also swiped his 14th base of the season which tied for second-most on the team and is tied for fifth most in the Carolina League.
D.J. Burt picked up a single and drove in a run in Thursday's loss. The Carolina League Northern Division All-Star has now picked up a hit in 16 of his last 21- games and hitting .300 (24-80) during that span. The utility plater for the Blue Rocks made another start at third base this season and has now made 12 starts at the position, the most of any other position this season. A natural second baseman, Burt has started 11 games at his primary position, 10 at shortstop and seven in left field this season.
The loss marked the second series opening loss of the final road trip of the first half for the Blue Rocks. On Tuesday at Down East, the Blue Crew dropped a one-run affair by the score of 6-5 in the first game of the doubleheaders against the Wood Ducks. On the season, Wilmington is 9-10 in the first game of a series. Their last victory in the first game of a series came back on June 5 against Lynchburg during the midst of the Rocks season-high six-game winning streak.
