Wilmington, DE- The Wilmington Blue Rocks (43-49/12-10) had a late rally by the Salem Red Sox (46-46/14-10) get the better of them on Sunday afternoon with the Rocks taking the loss by a final score of 7-4 at Frawley Stadium. Wilmington's starter, Gerson Garabito had another quality outing on the
Wilmington, DE- The Wilmington Blue Rocks (43-49/12-10) had a late rally by the Salem Red Sox (46-46/14-10) get the better of them on Sunday afternoon with the Rocks taking the loss by a final score of 7-4 at Frawley Stadium. Wilmington's starter, Gerson Garabito had another quality outing on the mound. The right-hander went seven innings, giving up only three hits, two runs, and three walks while also fanning five batters. Gabriel Cancel drove in three of the four runs and picked up a pair of doubles and a home run in the setback.
The Red Sox took the late lead in the top of the eighth. With runners on first and second, Tyler Hill singled to left to bring Ryan Scott home and put Salem out in front 3-2. Bobby Dalbec added another RBI single to score Jordan Procyshen to make it a 4-2 Wilmington deficit. Roldani Baldwin hit a deep fly ball to left to earn a sacrifice fly and put the Sox in front 5-2. Michael Osinski put the game out of reach with a two RBI single to left to bring C.J. Chatham and Dalbec around to score and make it 7-2.
The Rocks attempted a late rally in the bottom of the ninth. With Nick Heath reaching first on a fielder's choice, Cancel unloaded his sixth home run of the season to pull Wilmington within reach, 7-4. The comeback was shut down by relief pitcher Harrison Cooney who drew a flyout and a groundout to end the game and seal the win for Salem.
The Blue Rocks got the scoring started in the bottom of the first. Blake Perkins led the inning off with a base hit. He would move to second base on a wild pitch by Kevin McAvoy. After a strikeout, Cancel hit an RBI double to center to score Perkins and put Wilmington on the board 1-0. Salem would not respond until the top of the fifth. Dalbec slugged the first pitch of the inning over the fence in center field for game-tying solo home run to knot the game up at 1-1.
Wilmington took the lead again in the bottom of the fifth. With Heath batting, Salem catcher Baldwin tried to pick off Perkins at first but overthrew the ball into right field. Perkins went from first to home on the three-base error to score his second run of the game and put the Rocks ahead 2-1. The Red Sox tied the game in the top of the seventh. After a single by Brett Netzer, Dalbec drew a walk to put runners on first and second with two outs. Osinski smacked a single up the middle to bring Netzer around to score and make it a 2-2 ballgame.
The Blue Rocks will try to split the series with the Red Sox on Monday, July 16 at 6:35 p.m. Right-hander Nolan Watson (2-1, 5.09 ERA) gets the start for Wilmington. Fellow righty Jake Thompson (4-7,4.67 ERA) will be on the mound for Salem. Fans can tune in to the game with Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh on the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.
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Wilmington's starter Gerson Garabito turned in a quality start in a no-decision Sunday afternoon. The righty tossed seven innings, allowed just two runs (both earned) on three hits, walked three and struck out five. It marked the sixth straight start for Garabito in which he allowed three earned runs or less. It also was the fourth time he lasted seven innings with his last coming on June 28 against Lynchburg. Garabito's start was the 13th time a Rocks starter has tossed seven innings in an outing.
Gabriel Cancel continues to thrive when batting with runners in scoring position for the Blue Rocks this season. The infielder picked up three more hits with a pair of doubles and a two-run home run and drove in three runs in Sunday's loss. Over his last 30 games, Cancel has driven in 34 runs and added to his team lead with 54 on the season. While batting fourth this season, Cancel is hitting a robust .342 (25-for-73) with 21 RBI. When Cancel hits anywhere else in the lineup is hitting .254 (53-for-209) with 33 runs driven in.
Outfielder Nick Heath extended his on-base streak to 16 games with a pair of walks in the game on Sunday. He is hitting .293 (17-for-58) during the on-base streak to go along with 12 walks. He also stole two more bases in the game to pad his team and league-lead to 28 in just 52 games. The Rocks now have matched their total from last year with 111 stolen bases.
