Wilmington Loses Series for First Time This Season

Wilmington, DE - In a matchup of the two best teams in the Carolina League so far this season, it was the Down East Wood Ducks getting the best of the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The Blue Crew dropped a 7-3 decision on Sunday at Frawley Stadium and lost three of four overall to the Wood Ducks. The setback is Wilmington's third straight, which marks its longest losing streak of the campaign.

Brady Singer  took the loss in the series finale. The prospect righty allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits over six frames. After holding Down East at bay over the first three innings, Singer (1-2) yielded a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth.
Tyreque Reed got the Wood Ducks on the board with a sacrifice fly. Leody Taveras added to the advantage two innings later on a two-run triple and Diosbel Arias scored Taveras courtesy of a two-out double.
Wilmington worked its way back into the game in the home half of the fifth. Nick Pratto  worked a bases loaded walk to get his team on the board and Sebastian Rivero's sacrifice fly to center plated another. The Rocks closed to within one run in the sixth when Ricky Aracena's single brought home Angelo Castellano .
That would be as close as the Blue Crew could get.
Down East authored an immediate response in the seventh. Arias snuck an RBI-triple just inside the third-base chalk. The Wood Ducks added two more insurance runs in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Eric Jenkins and a run-scoring double from Yonny Hernandez.
Wilmington continues its seven-game homestand on Monday at Frawley Stadium as the Rocks open up a three-game series with the Winston-Salem Dash. Left-hander J.C. Cloney (1-1, 3.09) gets the ball for the Rocks, while Winston counters with righty Blake Battenfield. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m. and tickets are available at BlueRocks.com. Fans who can't make it out to the ballpark can catch all the action with the Voice of the Blue Rocks Cory Nidoh on 89.7 WGLS-FM or BlueRocks.com.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
The Blue Rocks continue to struggle defensively in 2019. Wilmington committed four more errors in the opener of Saturday's doubleheader. It marked the second time this season the Rocks have committed four or more defensive miscues in a game and the fifth time in only 17 contests they have been guilty of at least three. The Rocks added two more errors in the nightcap and another in Sunday's series finale. Wilmington is last in the Carolina League with 27 total errors as a team. The team has committed at least one defensive miscue in all but four games on the year.
The Blue Crew could not buy a big hit over the last three games. Wilmington went just 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position during Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's series finale. Overall during that stretch, the Rocks managed just 13 total hits over 24 innings. As a team the struggling Rocks' offense is last in the Carolina League in hits, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Wilmington may call the Carolina League's Northern Division home, but in the early part of the season the Blue Crew will be much more familiar with the CL South. The Rocks are in the midst of 17 consecutive games against southern division foes. Wilmington swept a three-game series at home against the Dash and then took three of four at Carolina before taking two of three at Winston-Salem. The Rocks dropped a four-game series at home against Down East and are welcoming the Dash back to Frawley Stadium for three more. Wilmington is currently 9-5 during this long stretch of southern hospitality.
www.bluerocks.com