Blue Rocks Stumble At Start Of 12-Game Homestand 

Returning home from a 12-game roadstand, the Wilmington Blue Rocks (45-68) dropped their series-opener against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (64-50) on Tuesday, August 22 by a final score of 10-3.

The BlueClaws struck first in the top of the third inning and never looked back. After scoring two runs in the third via an RBI single and sacrifice fly and one more in the fourth, Jersey Shore exploded for seven runs in the top of the sixth.

The BlueClaws scored their first three runs of the inning by clubbing extra-base hits, with Jared Carr starting the action with an RBI double. Following suit was Justin Crawford, the Phillies’ No. 3 ranked prospect, who hit an RBI triple, and Bryan Rincon who recorded another RBI double. Then, Caleb Ricketts ripped an RBI single to center, Otto Kemp was rewarded an RBI on a fielder’s choice, and Anthony Quirion capped the inning with an RBI single of his own to make it 10-0 in favor of Jersey Shore.

The Blue Rocks chipped away slightly in the bottom half of the inning with a Branden Boissiere two-RBI single, and they were able to score one more in the bottom of the eighth thanks to an RBI single by Yasel Antuna to make it 10-3, which is where the score remained.

Nationals’ No. 10 ranked prospect Jake Bennett only lasted 2 ⅓ innings in his second start back from injury, allowing three hits, two runs, and two walks. Leading the lineup for the Rocks was Murphy Stehly, who went 2-4.

The Blue Rocks will look to get back on track in game two on Wednesday, August 23 at 6:35 p.m. EST.