It was an offensive showcase that led to a huge bounce-back victory for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. After being held to one hit in yesterday’s loss, the Blue Rocks exploded with a 16-9 victory over the Hudson Valley Renegades to win the series 2-1.

Early on, the game seemed to be much the same as last night. A leadoff home run from shortstop Trey Sweeney gave the Renegades an early 1-0 lead, followed by an RBI single by center fielder T.J. Rumfield and an RBI sacrifice fly by designated hitter Spencer Hudson to give the Renegades an early 3-0 lead.

The Blue Rocks were also able to score in their half of the first, thanks in large part to Renegades’ starting pitcher, Matt Sauer, walking the first four batters he faced, which made the score 3-1.

After another two-run inning from Hudson Valley put the Rocks in a 5-1 hole, they began to fight back.

A leadoff home run by designated hitter Drew Millas, his first in a Blue Rocks uniform, started a five-run inning for the Blue Rocks. Just two batters later, first baseman Leandro Emiliani crushed a two-run home run of his own, followed by a Ricardo Mendez RBI ground out and an RBI single from Jeremy De La Rosa to put the Blue Rocks up 6-5.

The Renegades were not done fighting, though, as they would get an RBI double from Sweeney to tie the game in the top of the fourth.

A leadoff walk for Millas and an RBI double from right fielder Kevin Strohschein gave the lead back to the Rocks, and it would be theirs for the rest of the game. Mendez would then draw a walk with the bases loaded to put the Blue Rocks up 8-6, heading into the fifth.

A two-run double from catcher Onix Vega in the bottom of the fifth started a four running inning for the Blue Rocks that included the first home run of the season from third baseman Cole Daily to put them up 12-6.

Relief pitcher Jack Sinclair then gave up a single and a walk to the Renegades, which led to a two-run single for Jasson Dominguez, bringing them within four, but it would not be enough as the Blue Rocks responded with another big inning.

A double from Millas and a walk from Strohschein led to a two-run triple for Emiliani that put the rocks up 14-8. An RBI groundout followed that up for Vega and then a solo home run for Mendez in the eighth to bring the Blue Rocks’ total up to 16.

In the ninth, the Renegades would hit a solo home run of their own but would be put away by reliever Jose Ferrer to close out the 16-9 Blue Rocks victory.

The Blue Rocks close out this series with a win and will return to action on Tuesday, July 26, to start a seven-game series against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws. The first pitch will be at 6:05.