Lynchburg brought the possible tying run to the plate with one out in the ninth inning, but a 4-6-3 double play ended the game with the Hillcats being shut out for the sixth time of the season in a 3-0 loss at Wilmington Tuesday night.
The Hillcats offense had six hits and three walks, but they couldn’t produce multiple baserunners in the same inning until the seventh. Martin Cervenka went 2-4 in the contest for his team-leading 14th multi-hit game of the year. All six of Lynchburg’s hits were singles.
Nicky Lopez walked to begin the first inning and scored one batter later on the combination of a single and error in center field. The score remained 1-0 until the seventh when Tanner Stanley hit a solo home run to right field. The Blue Rocks’ final run occurred in the eighth on a Chris DeVito RBI double that drove in Hunter Dozier to make the final score 3-0.
Shao-Ching Chiang (6-2) suffered the loss despite only allowing one run on seven hits in six innings. It marked the right-hander’s sixth quality start in eight outings. He lowered his ERA to 2.29 for the season, which ranks third in the Carolina League.
Cristian Castillo (3-2) tossed six scoreless innings with four hits and two strikeouts for the victory, while Richard Loveladyrecorded the final two outs for his second save of the year.
Lynchburg looks to even the series Wednesday at 10:35 a.m. Matt Esparza (3-3, 3.51) will take the mound for the Hillcats against lefty Foster Griffin (4-2, 2.96). Fans can listen to the game live at www.lynchburg-hillcats.com.
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Chris Graham
