The Wilmington Blue Rocks were unable to secure their second consecutive victory on Wednesday, August 2, dropping game two of their six-game series against the Hudson Valley Renegades by a final score of 3-0.

After scoring eight runs in the series opener, the Rocks were blanked by Renegades starter Baron Stuart. The 24-year-old right-hander pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits while striking out five.

Rocks’ Manager Mario Lisson tipped his cap to Stuart after the game.

“Hitting is really hard,” Lisson said. “You would like to score eight, nine runs every night, but that’s not how the game works, that’s not reality. Today, their pitcher did a good job, so we tip our cap.”

On the other side, Wilmington got a dominant performance out of starter Brad Lord, as well. After allowing seven runs in just 1.2 innings last time out, Lord mostly shut down Hudson Valley’s offense, pitching six innings of two-run ball (one earned), while also allowing four hits and striking out five.

Lisson shared his thoughts about Lord’s bounce-back performance and the 23-year-old detailed what he was able to do differently this time around.

“Pretty good, attacking the strike zone, executing his pitches,” Lisson said. “That’s the key; he has good stuff, he just has to make sure he’s attacking all the time.”

“Today, my fastball command was much better,” Lord said. “Off-speed was a little sharper today, could command it a little bit better. Just worked well today, tried to keep my team in the game.”

Now three starts into his A+ career, Lord has put together a 5.68 ERA in 12 ⅔ innings. Besides giving up those seven runs back on July 27, Lord has pitched well, allowing just one earned run in his other two starts.

The University of South Florida product detailed how his transition to A+ has been thus far.

“It’s been awesome so far,” Lord said. “Guys are great on the team, always have my back on the field. It’s been great.”

In the Rocks’ previous home stand against the Grasshoppers, the team struggled a bit defensively, committing eight errors throughout the series. Last week in Brooklyn, the team committed five errors, and through two games against the Renegades, the Blue Rocks have committed three errors, including two on Wednesday.

Despite the recent struggles, Lisson is confident in his team’s ability and notes they will continue to work every day to improve.

“We continue to work,” Lisson said. “This is the minor leagues, this is still A-ball. We’re gonna see it on and off, we just gotta make sure we keep working so that these guys are in a better position to succeed every day.”

The Blue Rocks will look to gain the upper hand in game three of this six-game series on Thursday, August 3 at 6:35 p.m. EST.

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