Antuna Walks It Off For The Blue Rocks In 3-2 Win

In what was a back and forth battle between the two teams, the Wilmington Blue Rocks picked up their third game of the series 3-2 against the Bowling Green Hot Rods on May 5.

The night started out slow with five scoreless innings as starting pitcher Jake Irvin struck out two batters with the Blue Rocks’ fielders picking off the remaining hits from the Hot Rods.

On the opposite side, the Hot Rods’ starting pitcher, Mason Montgomery, struck out ten Blue Rocks players and only allowed for three hits over the six innings he pitched.

The bottom of the sixth saw the first run of the night. After center fielder Israel Pineda and designated hitter Omar Meregildo hit the first back-to-back hits since the second inning, first baseman Drew Mendoza doubled on a line drive to left field, sending Pineda home.

The Hot Rods would answer back in the top of the seventh after first baseman Alexander Ovalles singled to send Oslevis Basabe home. The Blue Rocks swiftly took out Diego Infante at home for the inning’s first out, followed by a pop-out from right fielder Heriberto Hernandez and Ovalles was caught stealing home.

With the teams tied 1-1, the Blue Rocks were unable to keep the scoring going until the bottom of the eight. Yasel Atuna doubled on a pitch from substitute pitcher Matthew Peguero before he advanced to third on Peguero’s wild pitch. Pineda would send Atuna home to advance 2-1.

The Blue Rocks focused on keeping men off base for the top of the ninth, with two players being struck out by Zach Brzykcy. With tensions high, a near-backpick would lead to the ejection of Jose Sanchez who believed third basemen Osleives Basabe was out at third during his triple. Basabe would tie the game 2-2 on a line drive from Hernandez.

At the bottom of the ninth, Jordy Barley struck out in six pitches against Peguero. With an aggressive attempt at a double from Darren Baker, the Blue Rocks saw their second out for the inning. With two outs and three balls, it was Atuna who made his second home run of the season for a walk-off victory, 3-2.

Peguero was handed the loss as the pitcher of all three Blue Rocks runs, with victory given to Brzykcy and his four strikeouts.

The Blue Rocks will hope to continue their game-winning aggression against the Bowling Green Hot Rods for their fourth game of the series on Friday, May 6, with the first pitch set for 6:35 p.m.