The Wilmington Blue Rocks couldn’t deliver a gift to the fans on Christmas in July day at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium on Thursday, July. 25, falling to the Hudson Valley Renegades by a final score of 5-2.

Bryan Caceres, who has been stellar at home in recent months, drew the start on the mound for Wilmington. He delivered with six clean innings of work, allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out six.

“Better today again,” manager, Mario Lisson said. “He was attacking the strike zone. Limit the walks and he has a good chance. The problem is when we walk people. Lead-off walks and things like that are when we get in trouble.”

Caceres had his off-speed pitches working well, causing lots of swings and misses during his appreciable performance.

“He’s been very solid,” catcher, Matt Suggs said. “Working his stuff, good changeups, and working sliders in with lefties. Good start and I couldn’t ask much more from him.”

Despite the quality outing from Caceres, the Rocks’ offense couldn’t produce enough to put the 24-year-old in a good position to come out with the win, as he left the game with Wilmington down 2-1.

“I think we got out of our approach,” Lisson said. “Left-hander [Kyle Carr] had some stuff, so it was tough over the plate. We were kind of guessing. We just have to stay with our approach, man. If you get out of it, you’re going to be in trouble and that’s what happened today.”

The one-two punch of Phillip Glasser and Jared McKenzie combined for all five Blue Rock hits on the day. McKenzie went 3-4 and had the only RBI, while Glasser went 2-4 and scored twice.

“I love hitting behind Glasser, he’s produced all year,” McKenzie said. “I trust every guy behind me. Whether I’m hitting five-hole, three-hole, [or] two, it doesn’t matter. Just a lot of fun to be in this lineup and compete. We’ve been competing a lot late in the ball games, so you never know what can happen.”

The exceptional day for McKenzie was imminent, as he came into the night with just two hits in his prior 22 at-bats. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t want to find grass, and the smallest tweak of a swing can change the fortune of a hitter.

“I felt great, it was good to see one go through,” McKenzie said. “I didn’t even know I was 2-22, but the swing feels fine. Made a little adjustment today, and obviously, it was good to see it pay off. I’m just trying to compete every at-bat.”

Thomas Schultz and Richard Guasch pitched well in the seventh and eighth innings, keeping Wilmington within reach to try and spark a late rally.

“The pitchers did a great job of giving us a chance at the end there,” McKenzie said. “That makes it great for us to be able to compete. I know we both like to compete against each other in the cages, so to be able to come out here and have success is a lot of fun.”

The Blue Rocks must’ve asked Santa for the game-tying run with Glasser and McKenzie on the corners. A rundown between first and second allowed Glasser to steal home, knotting the game at two heading into the ninth.

Guasch returned for the ninth but was not as productive as his first inning. Two wild pitches and two hits allowed three runners to cross, giving the Renegades a 5-2 lead that held in the bottom half of the frame.

“I think it was just a rough day all around,” Suggs said. “I think we just beat ourselves a little bit. The starter didn’t have much to beat us with and we kind of got ourselves out. Just one of those games.”

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