'Birds Salvage Doubleheader Split with Suns
May 26, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Delmarva Shorebirds News Release
SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds earned a split of their fourth doubleheader of the season against the Hagerstown Suns on Sunday afternoon at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The Suns (23-27) took the front end 4-2, while the Shorebirds (38-11) held on for a 4-3 win in the tail end.
Game 1
Aaron Fletcher (2-3) snagged the win in relief for the Suns, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings, striking out three. Hector Guance (2-2) swallowed the loss for the Shorebirds, going two-plus innings and allowing three runs on two hits, two hit batsmen, and four walks while striking out three.
Cody Wilson began the game for the Suns by getting hit by a pitch. Wilson then swiped second and subsequently advanced to third on a wild pitch. Justin Connell blooped a single down the right field line to plate Wilson and put Hagerstown on the board first.
Nic Perkins worked a walk to start the Suns' second and Trey Vickers got plunked, putting two runners aboard. A wild pitch then pushed both runners into scoring position. Ricardo Mendez smacked a grounder to third and Perkins tried to score but Jean Carlos Encarncaion threw him out at the plate. After a strikeout, Wilson lined a single to right, plating the second run of the game for Hagerstown. Another Guance wild pitch allowed Mendez to scamper home from third and put the Suns ahead 3-0.
Guance loaded the bases on three straight walks to open the Hagerstown third and was replaced by Matthew Hammonds, who induced a weak flyout and then rolled a 6-4-3 double play to escape the jam.
A one-out Cadyn Grenier walk kickstarted a Delmarva rally in the fourth. Will Robertson followed with a single and Seamus Curran walked to load the bases. Ben Breazeale snuck a single through the right side to score two and bring Delmarva to within one at 3-2.
Jacob Rhinesmith manufactured a run to reinforce the Hagerstown lead in the fifth. After doubling with two away, Rhinesmith advance to third on a wild pitch and then scored when the throw to third kicked off Encarnacion's glove and into left, making it a 4-2 Suns lead.
Delmarva threatened with walks to Alexis Torres and Robbie Thorburn to begin the fifth, but came away empty handed after Fletcher came on for starter Jake Irvin to get Grenier to fly out to right to end the inning.
Robbie Thorburn doubled with two outs in the seventh to bring the tying run to the plate for Delmarva, but Adam Hall grounded out to short to end the game.
Breazeale drove in both Shorebird runs, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and extended his hitting streak to eight games.
Wilson reached base twice for the Suns, going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Irvin lasted 4.2 innings in his no-decision for Hagerstown, giving up two runs on four hits.
Game 2
Zach Matson (3-0) earned the win out of the bullpen for the Shorebirds, pitching two innings and allowing two runs on two solo homers while racking up three strikeouts. Angel Guillen (0-3) absorbed the loss for Hagerstown, going four innings and allowing four runs (one earned) on three hits. Tim Naughton secured his ninth save with a scoreless seventh, punching out three.
Will Robertson reached on an error to start the Delmarva second, and Daniel Fajardo followed with a walk. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, and Encarnacion brought home the first run of the game with an RBI groundout. Following a strikeout, Ryne Ogren came through with a line shot to center for an RBI single, putting the Shorebirds up 2-0.
In the top of the third, Connell doubled with one out and stayed at second on a Gilbert Lara infield single. Rhinesmith brought Connell around with an RBI knock to right, bringing Hagerstown to within a run at 2-1. The Suns loaded the bases later in the inning, but Shorebird starter Ryan Wilson got Cropley to bounce out to first to quell the threat.
The Shorebirds responded with a rally of their own in the home third. Hall looped a leadoff single down the right field line, and Nick Horvath walked to put two on. After a flyout and a double steal attempt that left Hall at third and Horvath erased at second, Robertson lashed a liner into left for a single, scoring Hall. Fajardo then skied the next pitch into shallow right, but Rhinesmith dropped the ball and Robertson scored all the way from first, putting Delmarva up 4-1.
Omar Meregildo led off the Suns sixth by blasting a solo homer to left, cutting the Hagerstown deficit to 4-2. Two batters later, Tyler Cropley launched a solo shot himself, making it a one-run game at 4-3.
Cody Wilson began the seventh by legging out an infield single for Hagerstown and after a strikeout swiped second base. After Naughton recorded another punchout, Wilson stole third to put the tying run 90 feet away. That was as close as he would get, though, as Naughton struck out Rhinesmith on high heat to end the game.
Robertson scored two runs and drove in one for Delmarva, finishing 1-for-3. Hall went 2-for-2 with a double and a run, his team-high 20th multi-hit game of the season.
Connell went 2-for-4 and scored a run for Hagerstown, while Meregildo reached base twice, including the homer, in a 1-for-2 performance.
Ryan Wilson went four innings in the effective spot-start for Delmarva, allowing one run on five hits while walking one and striking out five.
The split of the doubleheader, coupled with second-place Greensboro's 10-7 loss to Hickory, sees the Shorebirds now five games clear at the top of the Northern Division, matching their largest lead of the season, with 20 games to play in the first half.
The Shorebirds continues their series with the Suns on Monday afternoon. Grayson Rodriguez (5-0, 1.50) draws the start for Delmarva against Hagerstown's Francys Peguero (2-2, 2.39). First pitch of the special Memorial Day matinee is set for 2:05 p.m. with gates opening at 1:00. Monday's game is a 47 ABC $3 Monday presented by Wicomico Heating & Air Conditioning and a Silver Sluggers game presented by Peninsula Home Care. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch App begins at 1:50 with Will DeBoer and Sam Jellinek on the call.
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