Rocks Walked-Off by Wood Ducks

Kinston, N.C. -- In the second game of the three-game series between the top two teams in the Carolina League, the Wilmington Blue Rocks were walked off by the Down East Wood Ducks by a score of 4-3 Saturday night at Grainger Stadium. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Blue Rocks and was the second time in the last six game the Blue Rocks have been walked-off. Wilmington's offense was held in check after the fourth, having just one base runner over the final four innings of play.

Leading 3-2 in the seventh inning, Down East tied the game up on an RBI single from Sam Huff who scored JP Martinez from first base to knot the game up. After Austin Lambright stranded the go-ahead run at third base in the eighth, the Wood Ducks wouldn't be denied in the ninth. After Lambright struck out the first batter of the inning, Huff reached on an infield single in the hole at shortstop to represent the winning-run.
Curtis Terry followed with a single of his own to put runners at the corners before Yohel Pozo laced a single up the middle to drive home Huff to hand the Rocks their seventh walk-off loss of the season.
Wilmington did a nice job erasing an early 2-0 deficit after Pozo belted a two-run homer off Austin Cox in the first. The Blue Rocks manufactured three unanswered runs over the next three frames. MJ Melendez cut the deficit in half with an RBI sacrifice fly to plate Tyler Hill, who reached base three times in the game.
In the third inning, the Rocks tied it on an RBI single from Kyle Kasser to score Ricky Aracena who reached on a one-out double. In the fourth, it was Melendez again who put the Blue Crew in front with an RBI groundout to drive in Hill to give Wilmington a 3-2 lead it held until the seventh.
The Blue Rocks and Wood Ducks will play the rubber match of the series on Sunday, August 18 at 1:00 p.m. with lefty Daniel Lynch taking the mound for the Blue Rocks. He will face right-hander Noah Bremer in the series finale. Fans can listen to all the action with the Voice of the Wilmington Blue Rocks Cory Nidoh on 8.97 WGLS-FM.
Pebbles of Knowledge:
Wilmington was walked-off for the second time this week against Southern Division foes. On Sunday afternoon at Myrtle Beach, the Blue Rocks fell 1-0 in 10 innings to the Pelicans. The walk-off loss on Saturday marks the second time this season the Blue Rocks have suffered multiple losses in walk-off fashion in the same month. In June, the Blue Rocks were stunned three different times.
Despite the one-run loss Saturday night, the Blue Crew continue to get it done in close games this season. The Rocks lead the Carolina League with 52 games decided by a single score in 2019 and have played 72 affairs with a margin of victory of two-or-less. Wilmington is an impressive 50-22 in those close calls including 38-15 in one-run decisions
Four continues to be the magic number for the Blue Rocks in 2019. Wilmington improved to 44-7 when scoring four-or-more runs in a game this season. Conversely the Blue Crew are just 28-44 when playing three-or-fewer runs.