WILMINGTON, DE (6/26/26) — The Wilmington Blue Rocks defeated the Frederick Keys, 8-6, Friday night at Frawley Stadium.
Wilmington won its second straight game to improve to 36-36 overall and 5-2 in the second half. The Blue Rocks remain tied for first in the South Atlantic League North Division. Frederick fell to 45-26 overall and 4-3 in the second half.
The deciding blow came in the bottom of the eighth inning.
After Elijah Green and Ronny Cruz reached base, Jack Moroknek, who already had two RBIs, chopped a ground ball up the middle. Shortstop Leandro Arias' throw home sailed past the catcher, allowing Cruz and Green to score and give the Blue Rocks the lead. While Moroknek wasn't credited with the RBIs because of the error, the importance of his at-bat wasn't lost on him.
"You can help the team any way you can," Moroknek said. "When it gets down to those last innings, it's winning time. It doesn't really matter what the stat book says. Just trying to put the ball in play and make good things happen."
The Blue Rocks also leaned heavily on their bullpen Friday night. Jacob Roberts was the standout, tossing two scoreless innings while striking out two to earn his first win with Wilmington. Roberts also extended his scoreless streak to 9 2/3 innings, dating back to June 10. Yeuris Jimenez followed with a scoreless ninth to record his third save of the season and secure Wilmington's second straight victory.
"It gives me confidence knowing that the guys behind me play such good defense and make such good plays," Roberts said. "The offense put up eight runs today. It felt like everyone had my back today."
"Jacob was pretty awesome," interim manager Mitchell Boe said. "He filled it up from the start. We emptied the tank last night, so those guys needed to step up in a big way, and they did. They kept us in it."
Frederick once again jumped out to an early lead, marking the fourth straight game the Keys scored in the first inning. Victor Figueroa crushed a two-run home run to left field, giving Frederick a 3-0 advantage.
The Blue Rocks answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Moroknek lined a two-run single up the middle, scoring Cruz and Angel Feliz to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Blue Rocks starter Eriq Swan made his second rehab start with Wilmington from Double-A Harrisburg. After allowing three runs in the first inning, Swan settled in and struck out five batters over three innings of work.
Cruz tied the game in the fourth with an RBI double that scored Eli Willits, but Frederick answered with three unanswered runs. Figueroa delivered an RBI double in the fifth before Colin Tuft blasted a two-run home run in the sixth to extend the Keys' lead to 6-3.
It didn't take long for Wilmington to answer.
Feliz drove in Teo Banks with a sacrifice fly before Green looped an RBI single into center field to trim the deficit to 6-5. Then, in the seventh inning, Banks came around to score on a wild pitch after stealing third, tying the game at 6-6.
Moroknek finished with two RBIs but was responsible for four of Wilmington's eight runs. Cruz led all hitters with three hits, while Green and Banks each collected two. As a team, the Blue Rocks totaled nine hits and drew 10 walks.
"It's awesome," Boe said. "They're never out of ball games. They never feel like they're out of ball games and their fight is freaking awesome. It's awesome to watch."
The Blue Rocks will look for their third straight win Saturday night at Frawley Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m., with Riley Maddox expected to start for Wilmington.