‘Birds Edged Out by Salem 5-4 on Wednesday Night

SALISBURY, MD – Although they didn’t get their first hit of the game until the seventh inning, the Delmarva Shorebirds battled valiantly in a 5-4 loss to the Salem Red Sox on Wednesday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.

The Shorebirds (9-20) saw the Red Sox (14-15) jump out in front with a four-run first inning.

After putting the first two on to begin the game, a wild pitch moved runners to second and third to Salem before a Miguel Ugueto sacrifice fly drove in the first run of the game. After a strikeout, Blaze Jordan popped a two-run homer to right, his second of the season, and Eduardo Lopez followed with a solo homer, his fourth of the campaign, to make it 4-0.

The Shorebirds got a run back in the fourth. Two walks and a fielder’s choice loaded the bases for Ryan Higgins who worked a free pass to force home a run and make it 4-1.

In the fifth, a Niko Kavadas sacrifice fly restored the Red Sox four run advantage at 5-1.

Despite still being no-hit the Shorebirds shaved the deficit back to three in the sixth. Darell Hernaiz and Isaac Bellony both walked and then pulled off a double steal before Higgins drove in Hernaiz with a groundout.

After putting two with two out in the seventh, Bellony finally came through the Shorebirds first hit of the game, a two-run single, to shave it to a 5-4 game.

Salem pitching locked it in down the stretch though, retiring the final seven Delmarva batters to secure the 5-4 win.

Angel Bastardo (1-0) fired five no-hit innings to pick up the win for Salem. Bastardo allowed a run on four walks, striking out seven.

Dan Hammer (1-2) was assessed the loss for Delmarva after allowing four runs in four innings on four hits and two walks, striking out five.

Felix Cepeda pitched two perfect innings to notch the save for Salem, striking out two.

Ryan Long was stellar out of the bullpen for Delmarva, throwing four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out three.

The Shorebirds and Red Sox continue their series on Thursday, May 12. Conor Grady (1-1, 7.00) gets the ball for Delmarva against Gabriel Jackson (0-3, 7.80) for Salem. First pitch from Perdue Stadium is slated for 7:05 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning at 6:50 p.m. on MiLB.TV and theshorebirds.com with Sam Jellinek on the call.

ABOUT THE DELMARVA SHOREBIRDS

The Delmarva Shorebirds were founded in 1996 and have been the Class-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles since 1997. The Shorebirds have won two South Atlantic League championships in 1997 and 2000 and were named the MiLB.com Minor League Team of the Year in 2019 after going 90-48 in the regular season. Based in Salisbury, Maryland, the Shorebirds are proud to represent the entire Delmarva Peninsula and have hosted two SAL All-Star Games in 1999 and 2011. The Shorebirds are owned by 7th Inning Stretch, LP, based in Stockton, California headed by Chairman Tom Volpe and President Pat Filippone.