‘Birds Comeback Falls Short in Loss to Wood Ducks

KINSTON, N.C. - The Delmarva Shorebirds failed to hold the Down East Wood Ducks bats at bay in a 6-3 defeat on Friday night at Grainger Stadium.

The first five innings were scoreless as both the Shorebirds (38-24) and Wood Ducks (35-28) tallied three hits through those frames.

The deadlock finally broke in the bottom of the sixth. Antonio Cabello singled to lead off the frame for the Ducks, with Angel Aponte coming in to pinch-run after an injury. One out later, Dustin Harris homered to score Aponte and give Down East a 2-0 lead.

Delmarva answered right back in the top of the seventh. Cristopher Cespedes led off the frame with an absolute tank, his ninth of the season, to cut the lead to one. Andrew Martinez added another solo homer, his fifth of the campaign, later in the inning to tie the game up at 2-2.

For the third straight half inning, two runs were scored in the bottom of the seventh. After a flyout began the frame, the Ducks recorded three straight singles with the third scoring Jose Acosta from second. After a strikeout and a Shorebirds pitching change, Harris struck again with an RBI-single to score Alejandro Osuna and give Down East a 4-2 lead.

The Shorebirds did not go down quietly however. TT Bowens launched his 12th home run of the year to cut the game to a one-run difference with the good guys trailing 4-3.

Despite the best efforts of the ‘Birds, Down East refused to let go of the lead. Keyber Rodriguez doubled to lead off the bottom of the eighth and advanced to third on a Gregori Vasquez wild pitch. In the very next at bat, Cristian Inoa tripled to score Rodriguez. Thomas Saggese followed that up with a sac fly to score Inoa and give the Ducks some insurance, 6-3.

Nick Yoder (1-0) earned the win for the Wood Ducks despite allowing all three Delmarva runs in two innings of work. Yoder also fanned three Shorebirds in the game.

Adam Stauffer (3-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering four runs on five hits in 1.2 innings, striking out two.

Noah Denoyer started for Delmarva and tossed a gem but did not factor into the decision. Denoyer breezed through five scoreless innings, scattering three hits while sitting down five Wood Ducks on strikes.

Orceli Gomez started for Down East and did not factor into the decision either. Gomez worked four scoreless frames and allowed three hits while striking out four.

For the second consecutive night, the Shorebirds went 0-for with runners in scoring position. Dating back to Thursday’s game, Delmarva is 0-for-17 in this category with 19 left on base.

Bowens led the charge for Delmarva, going 2-for-4 with a solo shot, his third consecutive game with a homer.

Harris and Inoa each went 2-for-4 as well, with Harris driving in three and Inoa bringing in one as the catalysts for Down East’s attack.

The Shorebirds aim to break their two game losing streak against the Wood Ducks on Saturday, July 17. The expected probables for the game are Zach Peek (2-3, 4.43) for Delmarva and Mason Englert (4-3, 4.97) for Down East. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. from Grainger Stadium.

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.