After winning the first game of their series against the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Wilmington Blue Rocks could not repeat that fate, dropping the second matchup 8-1 on Wednesday, August 10.

The Blue Rocks’ pitchers beat the mound, starting with Rodney Theophile, who allowed the Cyclones to get on the board early in the first inning, giving up an RBI double to Jose Peroza to put Wilmington in an early hole.

Their deficit continued to grow in the top of the third when Theophile walked Jaylen Palmer with the bases loaded to score 2-0.

Things went from bad to worse in the fourth for the Blue Rocks after Theophile gave up a double and a walk to the first two batters of the inning.

Wilmington brought in Gilberto Chu to try to prevent any runs from scoring, but that wasn’t the case as he gave up a hit of his own to load the bases and allow Peroza to drive in another run off a walk. A fielding error from shortstop Cole Daily brought another Cyclone home to extend their lead to 4-0.

The biggest scoring play of the night came when Joe Suozzi stepped up to the plate with the bases still loaded and Chu still on the mound. On a 1-0 pitch, Suozzi hit a grand slam to right field to double Brooklyn’s lead.

This would be more than the Cyclones needed to defeat the Blue Rocks as their only answer came from a sac-fly from Yasel Antuna to bring Robert Hassell III home.

While Theophile was handed the loss, both he and Chu struggled as they gave up a combined total of eight runs off nine hits and five walks while recording nine strikeouts.

Wilmington will look to jump back ahead of the Cyclones in the series Thursday, August 11. The first pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.