It was a rough night for the Wilmington Blue Rocks as they fell to the Aberdeen IronBirds 9-1 on Wednesday, April 26, making them 8-8 on the season.

Early on, the Rocks came out swinging. A single and a stolen base for Viandel Pena set up a one-out RBI double for James Wood that gave the Rocks an early 1-0 lead. After that, it would be all IronBirds.

In the second inning, IronBirds right fielder Jud Fabian drew a walk and stole second, which was followed by an infield single from first baseman Adam Retzbach. That set the stage for catcher Silas Ardoin to tie the game at one with an RBI double. 

Blue Rocks starter Andrew Alvarez was able to work himself out of the second inning jam, only allowing one run on two hits. 

In the top of the third, it was much of the same. After striking out the leadoff batter, Alvarez surrendered two singles and a double to load the bases with only one away. Adam Retzbach took advantage of that opportunity, hitting a go-ahead RBI single to put the IronBirds up 2-1.

Alvarez would go 3.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while walking three and striking out four.

In the bottom of the fifth the skies opened up and the rain began to pour, but the game was not stopped. Leadoff hitter Jared McKenize drew a walk and stole second to start the inning. McKenize would never move from second though, as his at-bat was followed by a strikeout and two flyouts to end the inning.

Southpaw reliever Alemao Hernandez took care of the IronBirds with ease in the sixth. In three innings of work, Hernandez did not allow a baserunner and struck out four. 

In the seventh, the IronBirds began to put the game away. A leadoff walk and a stolen base for Reed Trimble started off a two run inning. After striking out left fielder Luis Valdez, reliever Todd Peterson surrendered an RBI triple to second baseman Frederick Bencosme, who then scored on a wild pitch shortly after.

When it rains, it pours, and in the top of the eighth the IronBirds continued to pour it on. A leadoff double by Dylan Beavers was followed up with a two-run home run off the bat of Jud Fabian. 

That wouldn’t be all though, as a one out double for Ardoin was followed by an RBI single for Trimble to give the IronBirds a commanding 7-1 lead. Peterson would go 1.1 innings, allowing five runs on five hits to go along with one walk and one strikeout. 

In the ninth, Beavers crushed a no doubt two-run homer to right field to make it 9-1 IronBirds and officially put the game away. 

In the bottom half of the ninth, the Rocks struck out three times to end the game which brought their game total to 16 strikeouts. They will look to bounce back tonight, April 27, as they face Aberdeen in game three of their six game series.

The Rocks will have Andry Lara on the bump tonight. Lara is 0-1 this season with a 2.93 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

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