Kinston, NC – Missed chances, eye-popping gloves by the opposition and lots of little things added up to a 3-1 loss for the Wilmington Blue Rocks (15-21) against the Kinston Indians on Monday night. The opener of a seven-game road trip and four-game series at Historic Grainger Stadium saw the Blue Rocks go 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, including back-to-back innings with the bases left loaded.

With two men on base, two outs and two strikes against him, Kinston’s Carlos Rivero hit a two-run single to right field in the seventh inning against Wilmington starter Blake Wood (1-2) to break up a 1-1 tie. Wood, who struck out seven in seven innings, faced four batters over the minimum, with three of those four base runners crossing the plate. The former Georgia Tech star also allowed a one-out solo homer to Nick Weglarz in the fifth to break up a perfect showing to that point.

Wilmington grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Jeff Bianchi fisted a bloop hit just over the leap of second baseman Adam Davis to score Jeff Howell from second base. It marked Bianchi’s first hit in 12 at-bats since coming off the disabled list on Wednesday. Josh Johnson followed with a hit-and-run single and Brett Bigler walked to load the bases. But reliever Matt Meyer induced a groundout to himself off the bat of Derrick Robinson to leave the bases loaded.

The Blue Rocks left the sacks full again in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, Anthony Seratelli struck out and right fielder Johnny Drennen robbed Bianchi with a full-extension dive deep in the corner to snare a hard liner and end the threat. The Blue Crew would leave eight men on during the game, including five in scoring position.

One last gasp quickly vacated the team’s lungs in the ninth inning. Johnson doubled just fair down the left-field line for the squad’s lone extra-base hit among its five. The two-out blow allowed the tying run to bat, prompting the Blue Rocks to pinch hit Miguel Vega for Brett Bigler. But Kinston closer Luis Perdomo induced some ugly swings and misses for a strikeout and his eighth save in nine tries. Perdomo, who entered with the second-best batting average against in all of minor league baseball (.095), has still not allowed a single earned run in 15 appearances and 21.0 innings pitched.

Reliever Mike Pontius (1-0), one of five Kinston pitchers the work the mound on the night, earned the win with two scoreless and hitless innings despite walking three and striking out three.

The Blue Rocks have a chance to reverse field quickly as game two of the four-game set will be played at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Wilmington right-hander Mario Santiago (2-3, 4.21) searches for his third win in four starts. He will be opposed by Kinston righty Steven Wright (1-2, 2.51).

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Only Winston-Salem (2-10) owns a worse road record than Wilmington (5-12) in the Carolina League this season. The Blue Rocks have lost eight of their last 10 games away from Frawley Stadium.

Over their last four games, just four of the Blue Rocks’ 22 hits have gone for extra bases, while 14 of their opponents’ 31 blows have earned extra sacks.

The Blue Rocks sit six games below .500 for the second time this season and the first since a 5-0 loss at Potomac on April 19 dropped the squad to 6-10.

Josh Johnson collected three of Wilmington’s five hits on the night, going 3-for-4 with a double. He has hits in five of his last six games to raise his batting average to .314, the highest it has been since April 12. Johnson, a converted third baseman, also made several nice defensive plays. The former middle infielder snared two line drives on the night and fielded a tough in-between hop while in on the grass against Jerad Head to end the fifth inning with an out at first base.

Kinston’s outfield robbed more than one hit with a diving catch on the night. Nick Weglarz fleeced Anthony Seratelli with a diving snare of his liner to left field leading off the ninth.

The Blue Rocks have scored a total of 14 runs with Blake Wood on the hill this season over eight starts and 45.1 innings pitched.

Grainger Stadium's announced attendance of 938 is the lowest for any Blue Rocks game this season.

The Blue Rocks four-game losing skid is their second of the year and first since dropping four in a row from April 18-22 with two losses at Potomac and two at Frederick. The Frederick contests each went just seven innings as part of a doubleheader. Wilmington has not dropped five straight since June 4-7, 2007, including a four-game sweep at Frawley by the Kinston Indians that sported a doubleheader sweep in the process.