The Wilmington Blue Rocks have been rolling lately, the team is in first place with a  21-11 record in the Carolina League for the second half and team has now won their sixth straight game with a 8-4 victory over the Salem Red Sox on Wednesday at Frawley Stadium.

The star of this game for the Blue Rocks had to be right fielder Rudy Martin whose double in the fourth inning gave the Rocks their first lead of the game.

Martin had two hits, three RBIs and two strikeouts in four at bats in the win.

Some of the other offensive standouts for the Rocks were center fielder Blake Perkins, second baseman D.J. Burt, first baseman Travis Jones and DH Brewer Hicklen.

Perkins had two runs, two hits, one walk and one strikeout in four at bats in the win.

Burt had one hit, two RBIs and one strikeout in five at bats in the win.

Jones had two runs, one hit, one RBI,one walk and one home run in three at bats in the win.

Hicklen had two runs, one hit, one RBI, one walk and two strikeouts in three at bats in the win.

 

Salem’s Fast Start

Things did not look so hot for the Rocks in first inning as the Red Sox scored two runs in the top of the inning to take a early lead.

Red Sox’s two runs came from third baseman Bobby Dalbec’s two run home run which was given up by Rocks starting pitcher Carter Hope.

 

Rocks Score Four in the Fourth

Other then the two run home run, Rocks starting pitcher Hope pitched pretty well after that by ending with four innings pitched, six hits, two runs, two earned runs, one walk, three strikeouts and one home run.

After Hope shut down the Sox’s offense in the top of the fourth, it was time for the Rocks to finally get on scoreboard and they did just that.

DH Brewer Hicklen started the scoring in the fourth inning by walking in a run which scored center fielder Blake Perkins to decrease Salem’s lead to 2-1.

Then right fielder Rudy Martin smacked a double to right field which scored first baseman Travis Jones,  third baseman  Emmanuel Rivera and Hicklen to give Rocks their first lead of the game which was 4-2.

In the sixth inning, Rocks Jones increased the team’s lead by hitting a solo home run which made the score 5-2.

Rocks pitcher Josh Mitchell came in for the starter Hope and he did a decent job in the two innings he pitched.

Mitchell went two innings, three hits, two runs, two earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts in the game.

Salem Scores Two In the Seventh

Salem was not done in this game and in the seventh they decreased the Rocks lead to one with scoring two runs in the top of the seventh.

First run of the inning for the Sox came from second baseman Brett Netzer who singled on a fly ball to center field which scored center fielder Chris Madera to decrease the Rocks lead to 5-3.

The next run for Salem came from shortstop C.J. Chatham who hit a line drive single to left field which scored Netzer to decrease Rocks lead to 5-4.

 

Rocks Answer Back In The Eighth

The Rocks answered Salem’s two runs in the seventh with three runs of their own in the eighth which gave the Rocks some breathing room.

Left fielder Vance Vizcaino hit a line drive single to left field to score Hicklen which gave the Rocks a 6-4 lead.

Then, second baseman D.J. Burt hit a soft line drive single to center field which scored Vizcaino and right fielder Blake Perkins to increase Rocks lead to 8-4.

Rocks pitcher Corey Ray exited after the eighth inning with his night ending with two innings pitched, two hits, one walk and his second win of the season.

In the top of the ninth, it was all up to reliever Julio Pinto to close the door for the Rocks and he did just that as he went one inning, one hit and one strikeout.

The Rocks look to sweep the series with the Sox and get their seventh straight win in Thursday’s home game at Frawley Stadium. First pitch is at 6:35pm ET.