'Dads Swept in Delmarva with 7-1 Loss
Salisbury, MD - The Hickory Crawdads fell into unprecedented territory Wednesday night, as the 'Dads lost their 5th straight game for the first time this season with a 7-1 defeat to the Delmarva Shorebirds at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
The loss completed a series sweep for the Shorebirds against the Crawdads, with the Delmarva pitching staff proving particularly dominant as the 'Dads bats were held to five combined runs and 29 hits over five games and 45 total innings played. The defeat overshadowed a pair of solid performances by the Texas Rangers top two picks in the 2015 Draft, as 1st round selection Dillon Tate threw two shutout innings to start the game while the recently acquired 2nd round pick Eric Jenkins went 1-2 in making his 'Dads debut.
Delmarva jumped ahead with the help of the Hickory defense in the 3rd, as 2-out errors by both Carlos Arroyo at second base and Edwin Garcia at third extended the inning for Shorebirds number two hitter Steve Wilkerson who launched a 3-run home run to right for a 3-0 'Birds advantage.
The Crawdads responded by taking advantage of a Shorebirds defensive mistake in the 4th, as Luke Tendler reached on an E3 from Delmarva first baseman Logan Uxa before an RBI double from Jairo Beras plated Tendler and cut the 'Dads deficit to 3-1.
That would be as close as Hickory would get however, as the 'Birds scored two more runs against Crawdads All-Star Ariel Jurado in the 5th before finishing their offensive output with two final tallies against Hickory reliever Kelvin Vasquez in the 6th to take the 7-1 lead they would go on to win by.
Shorebirds starting pitcher Matthew Grimes (10-7) earned the win after allowing one unearned run on four hits, one walk, and two strikeouts over 6 innings pitched. Jurado (12-1) was given his first loss of the season with five runs allowed, two earned, on six hits and 5 Ks over three innings out of the bullpen.
Both Beras (2-4, 2B, RBI) and Jose Cardona (2-4) finished with multi-hit games for the 'Dads, while rehabbing Ranger Jurickson Profar ended the game 1-3 with a walk.
The Crawdads (77-56/33-32) will now return home to L.P. Frans Stadium for a 5-game series against the Rome Braves to conclude the regular season. First pitch for Thursday's series opener is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
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