Suns Finally Break Through Late in Shorebirds Heartbreaker
Published on May 31, 2017 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Delmarva Shorebirds News Release
HAGERSTOWN, MD - After seven and a half scoreless innings, the Hagerstown Suns scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth and stranded the Delmarva Shorebirds' tying runs in scoring position in the ninth for a 3-1 win on Tuesday night at Municipal Stadium.
Scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, Angelo La Bruna swung at the first pitch and lifted a flyball to the right field corner for a leadoff double. Blake Perkins laid down a sacrifice bunt to move La Bruna up to third, and Aldrem Corredor banged a grounder past a drawn-in infield to finally break the ice. Daniel Johnson followed with a walk and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Jake Noll then laced a single to left, scoring both runners to put the Suns (31-20) up 3-0.
The Shorebirds (20-30) made things interesting in the top of the ninth as Jake Ring and Chris Clare led off with back-to-back walks. After a strikeout, Collin Woody hit a grounder to third base. Tyler Beckwith's throw to first sailed high for his second error of the game. Ring scored and Woody and Clare ound themselves on second and third with one out. It was there that Suns reliever Hayden Howard buckled down, getting Cole Billingsley to line out to right. Gerrion Grim came up with Delmarva's last chance and hit a sharp groundball to the left side, but La Bruna dove at the ball from short, came up with the snag, and threw a one-hopper to first base a step ahead of Grim to end the game.
Howard (3-0) earned the win in relief for Hagerstown, allowing an unearned run on no hits, two walks, and three strikeouts in three innings. Matt Trowbridge (0-2) took the loss for Delmarva after allowing the three runs in the eighth.
Pitching dominated the game as starters Matthias Dietz and Tyler Watson squared off for six full innings. Each team's chances at the plate were few and far between.
Delmarva got all three of its hits in the first two innings. Ring singled with one out in the first inning, and Preston Palmeiro took a two-out pitch off the right arm to put two on, but Woody grounded out to end the threat. In the second, Billingsley and Grim led off with back-to-back singles, but Billingsley took a hard turn around second on Grim's base hit to right field, and Nick Banks threw him out before he could get back. The next two Shorebirds got out to end the threat.
The Suns had a prime scoring chance in the bottom of the second. Noll and Banks led off with back-to-back walks and moved up on a Jakson Reetz groundout. Telmito Agustin hit a flyball to center field, and Noll tagged from third to race home on the catch. Ryan McKenna's throw in from center caromed off the mound and to a standing-up Daniel Fajardo, who spun around and slapped the tag on a diving Noll's airborne foot for the run-saving out.
Dietz got out of more trouble in the bottom of the sixth, striking out Banks with two on and two out to end the threat. He got the first two outs of the seventh inning before getting the hook. In the longest start of his career, Dietz allowed just two hits in 6.2 scoreless innings. He walked five and struck out seven on 94 pitches. In the last week, Dietz saw the Suns for 12.2 innings and held them to just one unearned run, lowering his ERA from 6.56 to 4.84 in the process.
Watson lasted six full innings for Hagerstown, allowing no runs on three hits while walking none and striking out four.
La Bruna again saved his best work for the Shorebirds. While batting .211 on the season, he is hitting .278 with three runs scored in six games against Delmarva.
Fajardo threw out another baserunner in the fourth inning, this time Banks trying to steal second base. He has now caught 14 of the last 26 men (53.8 percent) to try and steal against him since April 27.
The Shorebirds go for the series win in their first rubber game of the season on Wednesday. Delmarva sends Jhon Peluffo (3-1, 1.91) onto the mound against Hagerstown's A.J. Bogucki (0-0, 4.15). First pitch is 7:05 p.m., and pregame coverage of the resumption on Fox Sports AM 960 and the MiLB First Pitch app begins at 6:50 p.m. with Will DeBoer on the call.
Delmarva Shorebirds ---------------------------- The Delmarva Shorebirds are the Class "A" affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Shorebirds are owned by 7th Inning Stretch, LLC, the same company that owns the Stockton Ports of the California League and the Everett AquaSox of the Northwest League.
The Shorebirds are celebrating their 22nd season in 2017 and have entertained nearly five million fans since beginning play at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland in 1996. The team captured South Atlantic League titles in 1997 and 2000 and successfully hosted the South Atlantic League All-Star Game in 1999 and 2011.
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