Blue Rocks Lose In Extras 7-6

In the Wilmington Blue Rocks’ attempt to come back from an 8-1 loss to the Brooklyn Cyclones just one day prior, the Blue Rocks fumbled their 12-inning game against the Mets’ High-A affiliates, 7-6.

The Blue Rocks started the game’s scoring at the bottom of the second after catcher Onix Vega nailed his first triple of the season to send in Kevin Strohschein, who reached on a walk, and Yasel Antuna, who had singled just three pitches prior. It would only take a single from first baseman Drew Mendoza to send Vega in, setting the score 3-0.

However, the Cyclones were quick to answer back to the early-game aggression with two runs of their own. The first came off of a Blue Rocks fielding error by left fielder Yasel Antuna to send in designated hitter Matt Rudick, who had hit a ground-rule double to be in scoring position. Brooklyn’s right fielder, Stanley Consuegra, also reached on this error and was eventually batted in off of a sacrifice fly by third baseman Jose Peroza, tallying two runs total for the team.

In an attempt to widen the gap between themselves and Brooklyn, Wilmington added one more run to their lead when Vega rang up his third RBI of the night in the third inning, causing Robert Hassell III to score and put the Blue Rocks up 4-3.

Unfortunately, this wouldn’t last long for Wilmington as the Brooklyn Cyclones started to slowly gain momentum. At the top of the fourth, Jaylen Palmer doubled on a down center to score William Lugo, who would return the favor at the top of the fifth to bat in Jose Mena on Lugo’s first home run of the season.

The game would sit at 5-4 in Brooklyn’s favor until the bottom of the ninth when Wilmington’s third baseman, Jose Sanchez, hit an RBI double to score Viandel Pena and tie the game 5-5 for extra innings.

In extra innings, both teams would remain scoreless until the eleventh inning, when Brooklyn’s Joe Suozzi, the team’s ghost runner, scored off of a groundout by Matt Rudick. Wilmington would also tally a run from their ghost runner, Cole Daily who was standing in for Drew Mendoza, off of a sacrifice fly by Jeremy De La Rosa.

At the top of the twelfth inning, Mena would record another ground out for the team to send in their man placed on second base, Stanley Consuegra. The Wilmington Blue Rocks would be unable to answer back, ending the game 7-6 and keeping the series in Brooklyn’s favor, 3-0.

Brooklyn’s relief pitcher, Daison Acosta, was handed the win for the game after allowing only one run and facing nine batters in extra innings. Wilmington relief pitcher Jack Sinclair, who also pitched during extra innings, would be handed the loss after he allowed one walk and one run.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks will look to take back this six-game series against the Brooklyn Cyclones on Friday, August 11, with first pitch at 6:35 p.m.