Burt, Wereski key Rockers win

HIGH POINT, NC- D.J Burt drove in five runs and Ben Wereski struck out 11 in a 5-2 High Point Rockers win over the Charleston Dirty Birds Wednesday night at Truist Point.

Wereski (W, 2-1) turned in the best start from any High Point starter this year. The southpaw worked through seven strong innings on the hill, only surrendering one run while striking out a career high 11. He combined with two relievers to hold Charleston to just three hits on the night.

Burt notched a career high five RBI while also becoming just the second Rocker to eclipse the 300 career hit mark.

High Point’s Ryan McCarthy led the game off in a big way, lacing a leadoff triple that set up Burt with a runner in scoring position. Burt grounded out to second but brought in McCarthy from third to give the Rockers a 1-0 lead.

Burt ripped his 300th career hit in the third, a knock that plated Patrick Sanchez to give the Rockers a 2-0 advantage.

In the fourth, Charleston’s Shawon Dunston Jr. took the only free pass issued by Wereski, and swiped second and third and scored on a throwing error by catcher Nolan Watson.

Burt continued his historic night in the seventh, slugging a three-run homer to give the Rockers a 5-1 cushion.

Charleston tallied a late run in the ninth on an RBI single from Carlos De La Cruz to account for the 5-2 final.

Burt finished the night with two hits among the Rockers’ seven in the game. The High Point pitchers fanned 13 Charleston hitters on the evening while allowing just three walks.

High Point moves to 28-34 as Charleston falls to 22-40. Game three of this three-game set is slated to start at 6:35 pm Thursday at Truist Point.  Rockers will send the southpaw Kent Emmanuel (1-0,1.93) to the hill to face David Lebron (0-2,8.44) for Charleston. Rocker fans can follow the action live on HomeTeamLive.com (DugoutTV) or the audio broadcast on the free app MixLR.