The Wilmington Blue Rocks suffered a crushing 5-4 loss at home against the Brooklyn Cyclones on Saturday, Aug. 17, after entering the ninth inning with a four-run lead.

Everything changed when reliever Thomas Schultz took the mound for Wilmington. Schultz immediately walked the first batter he faced, and then William Lugo hit a two-run blast over the left-center field wall, cutting Wilmington’s lead in half. Another walk by Schultz led to his removal from the game, with Miguel Gomez coming in as his replacement. Unfortunately, Gomez also struggled, giving up four hits that allowed three runs to score, handing the Cyclones the lead and, ultimately, the victory.

“A lead-off walk, a homer, and another walk put us in a bad spot,” manager Mario Lisson said. “Then there were a couple of pitches that were too comfortable given the situation. At the end of the day, it’s part of the game.”

This loss was particularly shocking for the Rocks, as their pitching throughout the game had been excellent up until that point. Starter Bryan Caceres, who has been inconsistent all year, had his best stuff out on the mound.

The key for Caceres whenever he is on the mound is avoiding walks. Caceres is second on the team with 47 walks compared to just 61 strikeouts. Today, he only allowed two walks and tied his season-high with six strikeouts.

“He was throwing a lot of strikes,” Lisson said. “That’s the thing that stands out the most. His secondary pitches were being thrown as strikes, and there were a lot of competitive pitches. When he does that, he has really good stuff.”

Caceres was very excited after his start, feeling like the work he had been putting in was paying off.

“I was feeling great and just being myself on the mound,” Caceres said. “It’s the work I’ve put in this week and the past couple of days. I’ve been working hard to throw the pitches where I want.”

Caceres routinely flashed a 96-mile-per-hour sinker throughout his six scoreless innings, making it difficult for the opposing team to get the barrel of the bat on the baseball.

Similar to Wednesday’s loss, the offense managed to put runs on the board and give the team a competitive chance to win.

The star of the game for Wilmington’s offense was Robert Hassell III, who is on a rehab assignment to heal his injured wrist. This was his first full game since June 11.

“I feel great,” Hassell III said. “I came down here for my right wrist, and it’s feeling fine. So now it’s all about playing. I got my first game back, and I’ll be off soon.”

Hassell III had his best game for Wilmington by far since his return, going 2-3 at the plate. Despite his strong performance, it wasn’t enough.

“The balls I’ve been hitting, I just missed,” Hassell III said. “They barely missed the barrel. I wanted to keep it going today. That team can gain momentum; I’ve seen it briefly. We lost a four-run ballgame there at the end. You can never be satisfied, even when you’re up by four.”

Hassell III also had two of his team’s four RBIs on his two hits, one of them being a double, along with a walk.

The other two runs both came on singles from Joe Naranjo and T.J. White, both serving as insurance runs.

As a result of the loss, Wilmington has officially lost this six-game series against Brooklyn, marking their fourth series loss of the second half. Lisson and company will try to salvage the series in the finale tomorrow.

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