CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Warthogs hold off Rocks, 4-3

Published on June 20, 2004 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


WILMINGTON, DE – The Wilmington Blue Rocks rallied from a 4-1 deficit, but came up one run short in a 4-3 loss to the Winston-Salem Warthogs at Frawley Stadium. The Warthogs avoided a series sweep by taking the last game of the three-game set.

The Rocks drew first blood as Mel Stocker led off the first with a walk, stole a base and scored on an RBI single from Damaso Espino against starting pitcher Sean Tracey (4-6). The Warthogs responded quickly, as Darren Blakely hit a solo home run to right field off Devon Lowery (3-6) to tie the game at 1-1.

In the fifth, Lowery retired the first two batters before allowing a walk and a single to put runners on the corners with two outs. Drew Endicott came on in relief and allowed Casey Rogowski to slap a ball on the ground that was misplayed by the shortstop Donnie Murphy. A run scored on the error to give Winston-Salem the lead, 2-1.

The Warthogs Brian Anderson came to the plate and stroked a two-run double over the head of centerfielder Shane Costa to break the game open, 4-1.

Wilmington's offense had its struggles, going hitless after the second inning until the ninth. Following a Darren Fenster walk and a pair of fly ball outs, the Rocks connected on three straight singles to make it a one-run game, 4-3. Costa and Tim Frend drove in runs with their base hits and Adam Keim came to the plate with the tying run at second base. Jose Espinal got Keim to fly out to center and picked up his first save of the season.

The Rocks are off from game action tomorrow, but resume their home stand on Tuesday as they open the second half of their 2004 schedule with a three-game series against the Potomac Cannons. Game time at Frawley Stadium is 7:05 p.m.

GAME NOTES: With the loss, the Blue Rocks ended the first half of their 2004 season 33-36...Wilmington finishes under .500 in a half for the first time since doing so in both halves of the 2000 season...The Rocks finish the first half in third place, four games behind Northern Division champion Potomac, the same club Wilmington will open the second-half of their season with on Tuesday...The Warthogs are managed by former Philadelphia Phillies manager, Nick Leyva...Leyva also coached third-base for the Toronto Blue Jays when they defeated the Phillies in the 1993 World Series...Tim Frend and Damaso Espino each collected two hits in the loss.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from June 20, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central