Delmarva Capitalizes on Salem Errors
'Birds Win Second Straight Over Sox Creed Willems Drives in Three in Thursday Victory SALISBURY, MD: The Delmarva Shorebirds (10-7) defeated the Salem Red Sox (9-9) for their second consecutive victory by the score of 8-5 on Thursday night. Delmarva grabbed an early lead in the second as Creed Willems
'Birds Win Second Straight Over Sox
Creed Willems Drives in Three in Thursday Victory
*SALISBURY, MD: *The Delmarva Shorebirds (10-7) defeated the Salem Red Sox (9-9) for their second consecutive victory by the score of 8-5 on Thursday night.
Delmarva grabbed an early lead in the second as Creed Willems put them on the board with a single into the gap in right-center as Anderson De Los Santos came around to score, giving the Shorebirds a 1-0 edge.
It would stay 1-0 into the top of the fourth until Lyonell James gave the Red Sox the lead with a two-run homer, his first long ball of the year made it 2-1 in favor of Salem.
But the Shorebirds would quickly snatch the lead back in the bottom of the inning on a two-run single by Douglas Hodo with two outs as Samuel Basallo and Anderson De Los Santos both scored to push Delmarva back in front 3-2.
Creed Willems added to their advantage with a no-doubt homer over the wall in right field to extend the Shorebird's lead to 5-2. They'd grab one more run a few moments later as a wild pitch scored Elio Prado from third base, giving Delmarva a 6-2 lead after six.
But the Red Sox fought back in the next half inning as Miguel Bleis drove in two with a long single to left, followed by a base hit by Allan Castro that brought in Roman Anthony to make it 6-5 Shorebirds. With runners at the corners and one out, Wyatt Cheney produced a ground ball off the bat of Cutter Coffey that turned into a double play, helping Delmarva escape the inning with the lead still in hand.
The Shorebirds got two of those runs back in the next half inning as Anderson De Los Santos found his way home on a single by Creed Willems, a throwing error from the outfield helped him go from first to home on the play. Elio Prado then scored WIllems on a ground ball to short as the Delmarva catcher was able to sneak home on the play to give the Shorebirds a three-run edge entering the ninth inning.
The Red Sox put the tying run on with a pair of walks, but Luis Sanchez was able to fight through the adversity and strand both runners by striking out Allan Castro looking to end the game with the Shorebirds holding on for the 8-5 win.
Wyatt Cheney (1-1) earned his first win of the season with three nice innings in relief, Luis Sanchez (1) grabbed the first save of his career by recording the final six outs, and Salem starter Luis De La Rosa (1-1) took the loss for the Red Sox.
Creed Willems led the charge offensively with his second three-hit game of the season while driving in three with his RBI single in the second and two-run homer in the sixth. Salem was unable to retire Douglas Hodo all night as the Delmarva outfielder reached four times with two singles and two walks while also driving in two with his single in the fourth. Anderson De Los Santos made his way around the base paths four times to establish a new career-high and his four runs scored are the most by a Shorebird in a single game this season. Delmarva scored a total of five unearned runs on four Red Sox errors in the three-run victory.
The Shorebirds will look for a third straight win over Salem on Friday night with Juan De Los Santos set to take the mound against Salem's opening-day starter, Luis Perales. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.