Blue Rocks Stumble In 10-3 Loss To Hudson Valley

WILMINGTON, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks fell to the Hudson Valley Renegades by a final score of 10-3 on Wednesday, June 25 at Frawley Stadium. The loss knotted the series up against the Renegades at one game apiece.

Shinnosuke Ogasawara got the nod for Wilmington, making his second rehab start with the team as he works his way back to Triple-A Rochester. The 27-year-old impressed early on, striking out two batters in a scoreless first inning.

Hudson Valley handed the ball to the Yankees no.3 prospect Ben Hess, making his first start in about a month. Hess held a 2.81 ERA against Wilmington in three starts this season but after a 1-2-3 first inning, the Blue Rocks flipped the script in the second.

Branden Boissiere led off the inning with a double before Hess walked three straight batters, the third walk bringing Boissiere in from third. In the next at-bat, Jackson Ross grounded out to third base but was able to notch a RBI as Marcus Brown raced home. Hess struck out the next batter but his day was done after that, going just 1 ⅔ innings while allowing two runs, striking out three, walking three and allowing one hit. Wilmington couldn’t bring home any more runners in the inning and settled for putting up a two spot in the frame.

After cruising through the first three innings, Ogasawara ran into trouble in the fourth. A lead off double and stolen base set Coby Morales up at third before a sacrifice fly brought him into score. Ogasawara struck out the next batter before allowing a string of singles, the final single by Brenny Escanio bringing home Alexander Vargas and tying the game up at two. Ogasawara was able to regroup, striking out the final batter and limiting the damage to two runs. The fourth inning would be the lefty’s last with a final line of four innings pitched, giving up two runs and five hits while walking one and striking out five.

Things unraveled for Wilmington in the fifth. 13 Hudson Valley batters would come to the plate in an eight run inning. Jose Colmenares hit a bases clearing double to score three. Vargas would follow him up with a two-run home run to right field. Jackson Castillo added to the scoring with a RBI single while Morales brought home two runners with a RBI single of his own.

Neither team would score again until the ninth inning, when a Sam Peterson flyout to left field allowed Gavin Dugas to score from third. Wilmington would not bring home any more runners in the inning and the game ended as a 10-3 loss.

A bright spot for the Blue Rocks came from Anthony Arguelles. The Virginia Tech product came on in relief in the fifth and threw 2 ⅓ scoreless innings, extending his scoreless innings streak to nine.

Chris Kean was credited with the win for Hudson Valley, his fourth of the season. Wilmington will look to retake the series lead on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.