The Wilmington Blue Rocks snapped their 10 game losing streak ( a season high) on Friday night with a 8-2 win against the Salem Red Sox at Frawley Stadium.

Rocks pitching staff was dominant in the win which was led by their starting pitcher Ofreidy Gomez who went seven innings with five hits, one run, one earned run,one walk, four strikeouts and earned his fifth win of the season.

The Blue Rocks lineup also brought the fire in Friday’s win with scoring eight runs which was led by third baseman Emmanuel Rivera who had four RBIs.

The other offensive standouts in the win were center fielder Blake Perkins, DH D.J. Burt and right fielder Rudy Martin.

Rivera had three hits, four RBIs in five at bats in the win.

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

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

Martin had one run, three hits, two RBIs, one walk and one strikeout in four at bats in the win.

Rocks Offense Rolled The Runs Out Early

The Blue Rocks did not waste any time of getting runs on the board as they scored three in the first inning.

The three runs came from one bat and that was from the bat of third baseman Emmanuel Rivera who hit a double to left field which scored right fielder Rudy Martin, DH D.J. Burt and center fielder Blake Perkins.

📽️: A capacity crowd tonight on The Riverfront & Emmanuel Rivera got them rocking right away with this bases-clearing double in the 1st inning to put the Rocks 3-0! pic.twitter.com/17V9tQIQ2n

— Wilmington Blue Rocks (@WilmBlueRocks) August 25, 2018

The next three innings, Rocks starting pitcher Ofreidy Gomez would hold Salem’s lineup in check with their hitters not able to score a single run.

Then, in the fourth inning, Martin would add another run to the Rocks lead by hitting a line drive single to right field which scored first baseman  Travis Jones  to increase the team’s lead to 4-0.

Also, in the fourth inning, Rocks Martin stole second base ( 26th stolen base of the season) which caused Red Sox pitcher Austin Glorius to throw a wild pitch and that lead to Rocks shortstop Angelo Castellano to score from third base.

 

Gomez’s Fifth Inning Hiccup

The Rocks were rolling with a 5-0 lead and starting pitcher Gomez was dominating the Sox lineup but in the fifth inning that changed.

The Red Sox finally scored a run in the fifth with their  shortstop Nick Lovullo grounding out into a force out which scored center fielder Jagger Rusconi and decreased Rocks lead to 5-1.

 

Rocks Answer Back

The Rocks answered the Sox score with two runs of their own in the sixth inning which increased their lead to 7-1.

The first run in the inning came from Burt who hit a line drive single to right field which scored Martin.

The second run came from Rivera who hit a double to left field to score Burt.

Both teams were quiet in the seventh inning which was Rocks starter Ofreidy Gomez last inning which he left going seven innings with five hits, one run, one earned run,one walk, four strikeouts and earned his fifth win of the season.

Justin Camp would come in the game in the eighth inning and relieve Gomez where he would allow two hits, one run, one earned run, one walk in one inning of work.

The one run came from Salem’s right fielder Tyler Hill who doubled to right field to score Nick Lovullo which decreased Rocks lead to 7-2

The Rocks would answer right back in the bottom of the eighth inning when Martin hit a double to right field to score Perkins which increased Rocks lead to 8-2.

 

Zuber Closes The Door

In the ninth inning, pitcher Tyler Zuber would come in for the Blue Rocks and he was three outs away from stopping his team’s 10 game losing streak.

Zuber went three and out in the inning and closed the door on the Rocks badly needed win.

Zuber went one inning and had one strikeout.

Rocks continue the series with Salem at Frawley stadium tomorrow at 6:05 pm ET.