'Birds Cruise Behind Big Second
GREENSBORO, NC - The Delmarva Shorebirds seized control early and never looked back, cruising past the Greensboro Grasshoppers 8-3 on Friday night at First National Bank Field.Nick Gruener (1-0) earned his first win in relief for the Shorebirds (28-29, 63-61), scattering two hits across three scoreless innings while walking one
GREENSBORO, NC - The Delmarva Shorebirds seized control early and never looked back, cruising past the Greensboro Grasshoppers 8-3 on Friday night at First National Bank Field.
The Shorebirds came alive against Rogers in the top of the second.
The Grasshoppers peeled back a couple runs off Delmarva's
Hall stranded the other two men on to end the inning and got through the fourth unscathed. He exited with 83 pitches through four innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits, walking two and striking out five.
Delmarva reinforced their lead with a run each in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. Jean Carlos Encarnacion slashed a triple to right to lead off the fifth and scored on a Ripken RBI groundout. In the sixth, Will Robertson belted a solo home run that just cleared the wall in dead center, his eighth blast of the year. Ripken notched a two-out double in the seventh and scored on a single from Carrillo, putting the Shorebirds up 8-2.
Carrillo led the way for the Shorebirds, going 2-for-5 with a triple, run, and three RBIs. The three-sacker was the second of Carrillo's career and first since his time with the GCL Orioles in August 2016. Ripken finished 2-for-5 with a double, two runs, and an RBI, while Robertson went 3-for-4 with the solo homer and two runs scored.
Santos finished 3-for-4 with a run for the Grasshoppers, while Santos produced in both his at-bats after entering the game in the fifth, notching a double and homer.
With a win and Kannapolis' loss at Augusta, the Shorebirds have now trimmed their Wild Card deficit to 3.5 games with 10 to play. Delmarva is still also chasing West Virginia and Hickory in the standings; both teams also won.
The Shorebirds look to keep momentum against the Grasshoppers on Saturday night.