'Birds Turn Brooms Around in K-Town

Click here for Game 2 boxscore
KANNAPOLIS, NC - Two days removed from being swept in a doubleheader, the Delmarva Shorebirds turned things around to sweep the Kannapolis Intimidators in Thursday's twin bill at Intimidators Stadium, taking the opener 6-1 and the nightcap 8-4.
Game One
Cameron Bishop (6-3) went the distance for his first career complete game, allowing just one run on three hits over all seven innings. He walked one and struck out three on 82 pitches. The complete game was Delmarva's second in the series; Brenan Hanifee pitched all six innings in a loss on Tuesday, the first time all year a Shorebird finished what he started.
All-Star Blake Battenfield (5-3) proved hittable in a loss, absorbing four runs on 10 hits in five innings.
Delmarva struck early with a run in the second inning. Seamus Curran led off with a single and went to third two batters later on a Ryan Ripken base knock. After a strikeout, Ben Breazeale legged out an infield single, scoring Curran to make it 1-0.
The Shorebirds turned the third into double-palooza, as Mason McCoy, Will Robertson, and Zach Jarrett ripped back-to-back-to-back two-sackers to put two runs on the board. Trevor Craport's RBI single two batters later plated Jarrett to put the Shorebirds up 4-0.
Tyler Frost produced Kannapolis' only run in the bottom of the third, lashing a soft liner into center that got past a diving Jarrett and rolled all the way to the wall. Frost came all the way home on an inside-the-park home run to trim the deficit to 4-1.
That lone blemish failed to flap Bishop, who faced the minimum over his final four innings and at one point retired eight in a row. McCoy started two double plays at short in the fourth and seventh, and Delmarva tacked on two in the seventh on a Craport sac fly and Ripken double. Bishop struck out Luis Curbelo in the bottom of the seventh to wrap things up neatly in under two hours.
Ripken paced the Delmarva attack in Game 1, going 3-for-4 with a double and RBI. Curran finished 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Craport notched two hits and drove in two.
Laz Rivera and Anthony Villa had the other two Intimidator hits in addition to Frost's inside-the-parker.
Game Two
Matthias Dietz (6-1) kept pace with Bishop's team wins lead, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings. He walked two, hit four batters, and struck out four. John Parke (6-4) took the loss, surrendering eight runs (six earned) on seven hits in four innings.
The Shorebird (34-30) took advantage of an Intimidators (39-25) infield that fell asleep at the wheel in the top of the first. McCoy led off with a four-pitch walk, then Branden Becker hit a grounder to third but Curbelo's throw to second pulled Tate Blackman off the bag and everybody was safe. Jarrett followed by taking one off the foot to load the bases with nobody out. Curran then bounced a grounder to the right side for a would-be double play, but nobody covered first base, and Curran was safe with an RBI fielder's choice. After a strikeout, Chris Shaw beat out a tough grounder to third for an infield hit, scoring Becker to make it 2-0.
The teams swapped runs in the second inning. McCoy sparked a two-out rally with a walk, Becker followed with a single, and Jarrett dropped a bloop double down the right field line, chasing McCoy home to put the Shorebirds up 3-1. The Intimidators answered with an Anthony Villa one-out infield single, a hit batsman, and two-out RBI base knock from Evan Skoug to make it 3-1.
Delmarva busted things open in the top of the fourth. Robertson singled to lead off, then McCoy drew his third walk of the game two batters later. After a groundout to move both runners up, Jarrett motored to first for an infield hit, plating Robertson. On the next pitch, Curran lifted a double to the wall in dead center, scoring McCoy and Jarrett with ease. Craport attacked the very next offering and pounded a line drive off the left field foul pole, good for his eighth home run of the season. The all five runs in the inning scored on three straight pitches, and the Shorebirds had an insurmountable 8-1 lead.
The Intimidators peeled off a run in the bottom of the fifth when Dietz gave up a single and hit three batters to force in a run. Nick Vespi tossed a scoreless sixth but Kannapolis got to him for two in the seventh, giving the game its final margin.
Jarrett reached all four times he came to bat, going 3-for-3 with a double, run, two RBIs, and HBP. Curran drove in three runs to eclipse the 40-RBI threshold for the season, while Robertson finished 3-for-4 with a double and run. McCoy drew three walks and scored runs after all three.
Villa finished 2-for-3 with a double, RBI, and two runs to lead the Intimidators.
The two wins clinch a winning record for the Shorebirds in the first half of the season. Delmarva last finished above .500 for a half during the opening session of the 2016 campaign, entering the All-Star Break at 42-27.
The Shorebirds now head to West Virginia to close the first half with three games against the Power. DL Hall (0-4, 3.93) will take the bump on Friday night for Delmarva against West Virginia's Max Kranick (0-3, 5.75). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m., and pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch app begins at 6:50 with Will DeBoer on the call.