Blue Rocks Drag Sean Manaea and Brooklyn in 8-2 Victory

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SAL Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Drag Sean Manaea and Brooklyn in 8-2 Victory

June 7, 2025 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


WILMINGTON, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (23-32) knocked off the Brooklyn Cyclones (38-17) by a final score of 8-2 on Friday, June 6th at Frawley Stadium. The win knotted the six game series up at two wins apiece between the two South Atlantic League rivals.

The game marked the home debut of Nationals top prospect and MLB's no. 59 ranked overall prospect Travis Sykora. Sykora showed the hype was warranted in his first inning pitched, striking out the first two batters and retiring the third on a 4-3 put out.

In the home half of the inning, former Blue Rock Sean Manaea made his first start of the season for Brooklyn as he continued to work his way back to the New York Mets. His homecoming did not go according to plan as the 'Rocks bats came ready to play. Two singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Jackson Ross who promptly hit a sac fly to left field, allowing Cortland Lawson to score from third. T.J White followed Ross up with a RBI infield single that allowed two runners to score after a throwing error by the shortstop.

Sam Petersen continued the scoring affair when he slapped a ball into right field, scoring White from second. Manaea salvaged the inning by striking out the final batter but the damage was already done as Wilmington took a 4-0 lead into the second.

Manaea's rehab stint continued into the second where he recorded two outs before hitting his designated pitch limit and being lifted from the game. All told, he pitched 1.2 innings, allowing four hits and four runs, three of those earned while striking out two batters.

The Blue Rocks continued their offensive onslaught in the third inning. After back-to-back singles by Ross and White, Peterson brought home Ross on an RBI single to left field. While Wilmington couldn't extend the lead any further, the scoreboard read 5-0 'Rocks after three.

The run support was more than enough for Sykora, who was piecing up the Brooklyn lineup. After four innings, Sykora had not allowed a base runner while striking out six batters.

Wilmington tacked on another run in their half of the frame when Lawson singled up the middle, scoring Marcus Brown from second. While the Blue Rocks later loaded the bases with one out, they were unable to break the game open as Cyclones' Will Watson struck out a batter and induced a groundout to end the inning.

Sykora finally ran into trouble in the fifth. He allowed the first Cyclone batter of the game to reach base with one out before giving up back-to-back RBI base hits later in the inning. Sykora rallied however, striking out Troy Schreffler Jr. to get the final out of the inning and keep it a 6-2 game. Schreffler Jr. would be the final batter Sykora faced on the night with his home debut being a resounding success. Sykora pitched five innings, striking out seven batters, allowing three hits and no walks.

"My body felt great. I felt strong," Sykora said. "Command was great. Feel was great. Being able to get ahead with sliders early in counts, that was working well. Putting guys away with the splitter, that was great. The fastball was firm so all in all everything was working well."

Wilmington answered with their own two-run inning in the sixth. With one on and two out, White crushed a two-run homer over the wall in left-center to make it an 8-2 game. The home run was White's third of the season and gave him three RBI's on the night.

The Blue Rocks bullpen shut down Brooklyn the rest of the way. Peyton Glavine, Austin Amaral and Samuel Vasquez combined for the final four innings of work. The trio allowed only one hit and no runs, with Vasquez recording the game's final out.

"I feel like we're collectively playing well as a team right now," White said. "Everybody's doing their job and nobody's trying to do too much."

Sykora was credited with the win, his first as a Blue Rock. In addition to winning the game, Wilmington also out-hit Brooklyn 17-5. Lomavita, White and Petersen all recorded three hit games. Brown, Lawson and Ross had two-hit performances of their own.

Up next, Wilmington will play the fifth game of their six game series with Brooklyn. The game will take place on Saturday, June 7th. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 7, 2025


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