‘Birds Postseason Hopes Extinguished in Loss to Red Sox

SALEM, VA - The Delmarva Shorebirds were officially eliminated from postseason contention Tuesday night in an 8-2 loss against the Salem Red Sox at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

The Shorebirds (64-51) entered the night needing to win out against the Red Sox (70-45) to have a chance to make the postseason.

Delmarva got on the board first in the fourth inning. After a two-out walk to Colton Cowser, Coby Mayo blasted a triple to center to put Delmarva ahead 1-0.

Salem answered back immediately in the bottom half of the inning. With men at the corners and one out, Ceddanne Rafaela swiped second, forcing an error from the catcher and allowing Tyler McDonough to score from third. After a strikeout, Nick Decker singled home Rafaela to vault Salem ahead 2-1.

After a series of scoreless frames, Delmarva tied the game in the seventh. Connor Pavolony walked with one away and then stole second. Darell Hernaiz then came up clutch with two away to bloop in a single and score Pavolony to tie the game.

Once again though, Salem responded quickly. In the bottom of the inning, Nick Northcut doubled to right with Alex Erro following with a base hit to drive him in and give Salem the lead back.

The Red Sox plated five insurance runs in the eighth on an RBI single from Tyler Miller, a run scoring wild pitch, and a three-run homer for Nick Northcut, his 16th of the year, to close the scoring at 8-2.

Jacob Webb (1-0) collected the win out of the bullpen for Salem. Webb allowed a run on two hits in two innings, walking two and striking out three.

Thomas Girard (2-3) suffered the loss for Delmarva after allowing a run in two frames on two hits, striking out three.

With their postseason hopes now shattered, the Shorebirds will try to pick up the pieces on Wednesday, September 15 against the Red Sox. Ty Blach (0-0, 0.75) is slated to start for Delmarva against Chi-Jung Liu (5-1, 4.50) for Salem. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning at 6:50 on Fox Sports 960 AM 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.