‘Birds Comeback Falls Just Short in Ninth in 5-4 Loss to FredNats

Trendon Craig drives in two in first multi-hit performance

By Sam Jellinek

May 21, 2022

SALISBURY, MD – The Delmarva Shorebirds had their ninth inning comeback clipped by the slimmest of margins in a 5-4 loss to the Fredericksburg Nationals on Saturday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The loss snapped the Shorebirds (14-24) five-game winning streak while the Nationals (20-17) collected their first win

SALISBURY, MD – The Delmarva Shorebirds had their ninth inning comeback clipped by the slimmest of margins in a 5-4 loss to the Fredericksburg Nationals on Saturday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.

The loss snapped the Shorebirds (14-24) five-game winning streak while the Nationals (20-17) collected their first win of the series.

The Shorebirds scored right away in the first inning. Noelberth Romero doubled and moved to third on a Darell Hernaiz single. The duo then executed a perfect double steal with Romero scoring to make it 1-0 Shorebirds.

Luis Valdez doubled the ‘Birds lead with a two-out RBI single in the second.

Viandel singled to open the third for Fredericksburg and Jacob Young then tripled him home before scoring himself on an error on the play to tie the game at 2-2. The FredNats took the lead later in the inning as Jeremy De La Rosa doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Steven Williams RBI groundout.

Sammy Infante doubled the FredNats lead with a solo homer to lead off the sixth.

Trendon Craig tripled home a run in the seventh to cut it back to a one-run game for the Shorebirds.

Infante struck again to lead off the eighth, smacking his ninth homer of the season, to restore the two-run lead for Fredericksburg.

Trailing 5-3 going into the ninth, the ‘Birds rallied. Michael Mantecón singled to start the frame and Luis Valdez followed with another base hit. After a popup, Darell Hernaiz legged out an infield single to load the bases. Trendon Craig then smacked a single to center to score Mantecón but Valdez was thrown out at the plate trying to tie the game with the FredNats holding on for a 5-4 win.

Andry Lara (1-2) started and earned the win for the FredNats. Lara allowed two runs over five innings on four hits and six walks, striking out three.

Juan De Los Santos (1-4) started and absorbed the loss for the Shorebirds. De Los Santos lasted four innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks, striking out four.

Jose Ferrer went the final two innings for the FredNats to earn his second save of the season, allowing a run over two innings on four hits, striking out three.

The Shorebirds wrap up their six-game series with the Nationals on Sunday, May 22. Dan Hammer (2-2, 6.00) gets the ball for Delmarva against Brendan Collins (2-0, 3.13) for Fredericksburg. First pitch from Perdue Stadium is slated for 2:05 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning at 1:50 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.