Santa Leaves Coal In Mr Celery's Stocking; Wilmington Falls 5-2

The Wilmington Blue Rocks fell to the Hudson Valley Renegades 5-2 in a tough loss on Thursday, July 25.

The Blue Rocks jumped on Renegades’ starter Kyle Carr in the first. Phillip Glasser knocked a leadoff triple in the right-center field gap, and Jared McKenzie singled him in to score an at-bat later.

The 1-0 lead for Wilmington didn’t last, as Omar Martinez laced a solo home run to kickstart the second inning to tie the game.

Bryan Caceres hit a batter and walked one following the homer, granting Hudson Valley two runners on first and second with one out. He fought out of the inning only allowing the one run.

Carr shined after the first two batters, striking out four of six batters throughout the end of the first and second frames.

Jared Serna continued his season-long domination of Wilmington’s starters in the third inning, popping a single and stealing second to get into scoring position. Martinez singles him in for his second RBI of the day, handing Hudson Valley a 2-1 lead.

Both pitchers were dealing throughout the middle innings. Caceres locked in to go scoreless in the fourth and fifth. He stayed in through the sixth inning, striking out the side in order in his final frame.

Carr was lights out, only allowing two baserunners after allowing a run in the first. Carr exited after the fifth with the lead in hand as the pitcher of record.

The bullpens were both doing well, until the bottom of the eighth. Two more Blue Rocks’ singles from Glasser and McKenzie had runners on the corners against Mason Vinyard.

McKenzie started to steal second, but retreated to first following the throw, which allowed Glasser to steal home and tie the game at 2-2.

In the top of the ninth, Martinez drew a walk from Richard Guasch to start the inning. Martinez tried to take third on a bloop Christopher Familia, but an error in the outfield allowed Martinez to not only secure third, but come all the way home from first on a play where it was bold to try for one extra base.

The Renegades scored another on a Kiko Romero double to increase their lead. A wild pitch pushed Romero to third, and he scored on a groundout by Benny Escanio to take a commanding 5-2 lead with Wilmington down to their last licks.

Yorlin Calderon entered the game for Hudson Valley in the ninth and shut the door on Wilmington by striking out the side in order to end the game and cut the Blue Rocks’ lead in the series to 2-1.