‘Birds Fend Off Wood Ducks in Saturday Win

KINSTON, N.C. - The Delmarva Shorebirds went wire-to-wire over the Down East Wood in a 6-3 win on Saturday night at Grainger Stadium.

In stark contrast to Friday’s contest, the Shorebirds (39-24) jumped ahead of the Wood Ducks (35-29) right away and held the lead for the rest of the game.

Delmarva got things started in the top of the first inning. Darell Hernaiz led off the game with a single and stole second base. Two outs later, TT Bowens doubled to score Hernaiz and extend his RBI streak to four games. Jean Carmona subsequently launched a two-run blast, his first of the season, to give the Shorebirds a 3-0 lead.

The Wood Ducks were kept off the board until the bottom of the third. Keithron Moss tripled to open the frame and Jayce Easley dropped a bunt single to score him later in the inning. Easley stole second but was caught trying to swipe third and Dustin Harris then struck out to end the inning, with Delmarva leading 3-1.

Carmona came back for more in the fourth. After a Bowens lineout, Carmona sent one out to left-center for his second of the campaign to give Delmarva a 4-1 advantage.

The Shorebirds struck again in the fifth. Wilkin Grullon led off the inning with a free pass and Hernaiz slapped his third single of the game one out later. Lamar Sparks earned a walk to load the bases, and Grullon dashed home on a wild pitch to score. The Ducks got out of the inning trailing 5-1.

In the bottom of the same inning, the Wood Ducks got one back. Easley collected Down East’s second leadoff triple of the night and Luisangel Acuna singled to score him in the next at-bat. The teams headed to the sixth with the score favoring Delmarva, 5-2.

In the seventh, Andrew Martinez sent his sixth home run of the season out of Grainger Stadium to grow the Shorebird lead to 6-2.

Despite recording zero hits and one walk, the Wood Ducks tallied their third run of the night in the eighth. Alejandro Osuna walked with one away in the inning before Houston Roth was called for two consecutive balks to advance Osuna to third. Keithron Moss grounded out in the next at bat to score Osuna and set the final score, 6-3 as Roth cruised the rest of the way.

Houston Roth (4-1) earned the win in another strong relief appearance. Roth tossed four innings, allowing one run on two hits while walking two and punching out four.

Nick Krauth (2-4) was handed the loss for the Wood Ducks. Krauth worked six complete innings but allowed five runs on six hits while walking two and striking out four Shorebirds.

Zach Peek got the start for Delmarva but did not factor into the decision. Peek tossed 4.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits, walking four and collecting seven punchouts.

Carmona paced the Delmarva offense, going 2-for-4 with two home runs and three driven in. Hernaiz finished 3-for-4 with three singles and a run scored in his second go around as the leadoff man this year.

Easley and Moss provided most of the punch for Down East. Easley went 2-for-4 with a triple, walk and one batted in, while Moss finished 2-for-3 with two triples, a walk and one driven in.

The Shorebirds pitching staff collected ten strikeouts in the victory. They also stranded nine Down East base runners, with the Wood Ducks going 2-11 with runners in scoring position.

The Shorebirds look to carry today’s strong showing against the Wood Ducks to the series finale on Sunday, July 18. The expected probables for the game are Griffin McLarty (1-5, 4.43) for Delmarva and Gavin Collyer (1-0, 5.23) for Down East. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 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.