‘Birds Drop Series Finale to FredNats

FREDERICKSBURG, VA - The Delmarva Shorebirds failed to secure a series win as they fell to the Fredericksburg Nationals 7-2 on Sunday afternoon at the New FredNats Park.

The Shorebirds (20-9) tied a season low in hits with just three as the Nationals (8-22) pitching staff held the Delmarva bats down.

Scoreless after an inning of play, the Nationals put up three in the bottom of the second. Junior Martina singled to open the inning and Cole Daily followed with a walk. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Ricardo Mendez walked to load the bases. J.T. Arruda then brought in the first run of the game with an RBI groundout. Onix Vega broke the inning open when he then rolled a single to center, scoring Daily and Mendez to make it 3-0 Nationals.

In the fourth, Jeremy De La Rosa blooped a double to left to start the frame. After a strikeout, De La Rosa moved to third on a wild pitch. Martina then brought De La Rosa home with a line drive single, making it 4-0.

The FredNats scored for the third straight inning in the fifth. Arruda bounced a single to right to kick off the inning before moving to second on a groundout. After another groundout, Viandel Pena smacked a homer to right center, pushing the FredNats lead to 6-0.

Delmarva attempted to make it a close ballgame in the late stages, turning three walks, a hit batter, a single, and two wild pitches into two runs in the eighth, to make it 6-2.

In the bottom of the eighth, the FredNats stretched their lead back to five with a Vega sacrifice fly to bring the game to its final line of 7-2.

Gilberto Chu (1-0) collected the win in relief for the FredNats. Chu tossed 2.1 innings of no-hit shutout baseball, allowing just a walk.

Shane Davis (2-1) started and suffered the loss for Delmarva, lasting three innings while giving up four runs on four hits and two walks, striking out two.

Lucas Knowles started for the Nationals but did not factor into the decision. Knowles went 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out five.

The Shorebirds mustered just three hits, singles from Greg Cullen and Hudson Haskin plus a double for Dylan Harris. Darell Hernaiz did work a walk to extend his on-base streak to 21 games.

Arruda did damage as the DH for the FredNats, finishing 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored. Martina also had two hits in a 2-for-3 performance, driving in a run while also scoring one.

After an off-day on Monday, the Shorebirds stay on the road to take on the Lynchburg Hillcats at the Bank of the James Stadium on Tuesday, June 8. Starters for the contest have yet to be announced.

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.