Fresh off of a series-opening win against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws on Tuesday, June 28, the Wilmington Blue Rocks were back in action on Wednesday, June 29 for game two of their six-game series against the Jersey Shore team.

Unfortunately for the Blue Rocks, the offense was stagnant and couldn’t find a rhythm, leading to a 4-1 loss, evening up the series at one game a piece.

“Their first two guys had pretty good arms, with a good fastball,” Manager Mario Lisson said after the loss. “We had a little bit of trouble putting our foot down and getting ready to hit.”

Jersey Shore starter Griff McGarry, the No. 8 prospect in the Phillies organization, put forth a nice outing on the mound for the BlueClaws in this one. McGarry went six innings, allowing just one hit and no runs while walking four and striking out eleven in the process.

Blue Rock third baseman Jose Sanchez was quick to give McGarry credit for his performance.

“We saw great pitching on the other side,” Sanchez said. “He’s got good stuff. His breaking ball, he just throws hard. We’ve been doing a good job against guys that throw hard, but today he had really good stuff.”

As a team overall, the Blue Rocks managed just three hits on a night where the offense wasn’t its usual self. According to Sanchez, the fact that a top pitching prospect in the Phillies organization did not play a factor in the Blue Rocks’ slow night at the plate. 

“Just business, that doesn’t matter,” Sanchez said. “You go up to the plate and just do your business.”

Lately, the Blue Rocks have shown glimpses of being an elite offensive team, however, they haven’t quite been able to put it all together on a game-to-game basis yet.

Lisson knows what his team needs to do to flip the switch and be able to put runs up on the board every single night.

“We gotta be ready to hit the fastball,” Lisson said. “Make sure our approach is good and be ready to hit the fastball daily.”

Wilmington will now be looking for a bounce-back when they face off against Jersey Shore for game three of this six-game series on Thursday, June 30.

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