‘Birds Bested by ‘Cats in Pitchers’ Duel

*SALISBURY, MD *- The Delmarva Shorebirds were upended by a late Lynchburg Hillcats comeback in the ninth inning of a 3-2 loss on Thursday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.

The Shorebirds (39-29) loss coupled with the Salem Red Sox win pushes Delmarva back into second place while the Hillcats (35-33) clinched an early series win with the victory.

The Shorebirds struck first in the bottom of the first. With two away, Craig Lewis rolled a single to rightfield before TT Bowens pounded a double into right-center, scoring Lewis, and putting Delmarva ahead 1-0.

Lynchburg tied the game in the fourth behind a solo homer from Yainer Diaz, his fourth of the season.

Both pitching staffs continued to cruise until the eighth when the Shorebirds broke the 1-1 deadlock. With two away, Mason Janvrin worked a walk before Lamar Sparks singled to put two aboard. Darell Hernaiz then punched a single to right, scoring Janvrin, to put the Shorebirds up 2-1.

Lynchburg refused to concede. Johnathan Rodriguez singled to start the inning and two outs later moved to third on two wild pitches. Down to their final out and strike, pinch-hitter Miguel Jerez vaulted the Hillcats in front with a two-run homer, his third of the season, making it 3-2.

The Shorebirds put the leadoff man on to begin the bottom of the ninth, but the Hillcats held on for the 3-2 victory.

Daritzon Feliz (4-2) earned the win in relief for Lynchburg. Feliz went two innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks.

Jonathan Pendergast (0-1) was hung with the loss for Delmarva. Pendergast allowed two runs in one inning on two hits and a walk, striking out one.
Starters for both sides were excellent, but neither factored into the final decision. For Delmarva, Noah Denoyer went six innings, allowing just one run on four hits, striking out five. Jordan Jones was just as good for Lynchburg, firing seven innings of one-run ball on four hits and a walk, striking out seven.

The Shorebirds had six hits in the game all coming from the top four hitters in the order. Sparks and Hernaiz each went 2-for-4, while Hernaiz also added an RBI.

The Hillcats offense was powered exclusively by the long ball, a solo homer for Diaz and a two-run homer for Jerez.

The Shorebirds do battle with the Hillcats again on Friday, July 23 at Perdue Stadium. Houston Roth (4-1, 3.80) is slated to take the hill for the Shorebirds against Lenny Torres (1-3, 5.17) for Lynchburg. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning at 6:50 p.m. on MiLB.TV and Fox Sports 960 AM with Sam Jellinek and Nick Lewis 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.