Quick adjustment

The rain Tuesday left Runkle-Miller Field soaked.

A damp mound got to Rockets’ pitcher Tyler Reynolds in the first inning as he gave up a run.

In his second trip out to the mound, Reynolds dialed it in, getting through the inning in only four pitches.

The short inning was a turning point for Reynolds and the Portland Rockets, who crushed the Fort Wayne Blues 12-1 Wednesday night.

Three of the first five Blues to come to the plate reached base in the first inning. Of the three who reached base, one was hit by a pitch, one walked and the other reached on an error by Blake Caldwell at third base.

Reynolds walked John Carvadal Sr. to give the Blues their only run of the game before a ground ball and a strikeout ended the inning.

“The mound is kind of wet and I had to adjust for that,” Reynolds said. “I don’t want to make excuses because this is my eighth year and I’m just trying to get back in the zone. I had a couple of ground balls that didn’t go my way, I walked two guys and luckily after that I zoned back in.”

Following the rough inning, Reynolds came back out onto the mound with a slight adjustment.

Jaren Hildebrand fouled off the first pitch of the at bat and proceeded to fly out to right field.

On the next pitch, Leroy Lepper flied out to center field.

On the fourth and final pitch of the inning, JuanPablo Arcila hit a sharp liner to Garrison Brege who caught the ball to end the frame.

“Oh my goodness, it happened so quickly, I don’t even know,” Reynolds said. “I have a slider/cutter and I threw that a couple of times. They barreled it but it went right to our guys luckily.”

Reynolds dominated the Blues’ lineup from that point on, only giving up two hits in the winning effort. He struck out seven batters (three of which were looking) during his five innings pitched. Reynolds struck out the side in the fifth to finish his day on the mound.

“The difference was they made contact when they had the opportunity to make contact. We didn’t,” Blues manager and third baseman Abelardo Paz said. “We had bases loaded in the first inning and we didn’t capitalize. They did. That was the difference.”

The Rockets had a slow start on offense as well. Christian Grewalk of Fort Wayne hit the first batter of the first and second innings, but managed to keep the rest of the Rockets off base.

Portland broke through in the third. An error by Max Foster at shortstop was what the Rockets needed to get rolling. Grewalk walked the next two batters after to load the bases for Zach Tanner.

On the fifth pitch of Tanner’s at bat, he smashed a single up the middle to plate the first two runs for the Rockets and give his team the lead. Joel Kennedy and Jacob Barr followed with singles of their own that each plated a run. The final runner crossed home plate when Peyton Smith hit a high pop up to right field that Lepper couldn’t handle.

“The key was, we can move the chain with the thick middle of the order that we have,” Rockets manager Randy Miller said.

“They’re all tough customers at the plate. Strong, beefy — they look like they play for the Cleveland Browns — and they have pop. They are in scoring position when they’re at the plate. These guys can be good.”

The middle of the order powered a four-run fourth inning as well. Kennedy hit a ball that Paz mishandled at third to allow a run to score and Barr walked to push in a run.

The bases were still loaded for Smith’s at bat. After two pitches, he connected with a ball that was launched far and foul into the trees near left field. The next pitch Smith sent over Hildebrand’s head in left field to drive two more runs home.

Tanner and Kennedy also both hit singles in the seventh inning, both coming around to score in the three-run inning.

“Past week and a half I feel like I’ve been seeing the ball well,” Tanner said. “Collectively as a team, it helps when everyone is playing well. … We have a pretty good team.”