Dietz Tosses Masterpiece, 'Birds Blank 'Claws

SALISBURY, MD - Matthias Dietz blanked the Lakewood BlueClaws over a career-high seven innings for the Delmarva Shorebirds in a 3-0 victory on Friday at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
Dietz (5-1) never issued a three-ball count and didn't allow a runner to reach scoring position until the seventh inning, rattling off seven strikeouts and allowing just three hits and no walks for the Shorebirds (29-17). He extend his scoreless streak to 17 innings since May 10 in Lexington.
Kyle Young (0-1) took the hard loss for the BlueClaws (25-21), allowing two runs on three hits, two walks, and six strikeouts in his six innings of work. Tim Naughton pitched two scoreless innings and picked up his first save as a Shorebird.
Early in the game it was a pitchers' duel as Dietz and Young exchanged early back-and-forth dominance. Both pitchers allowed leadoff baserunners in the first before both defenses turned double plays.
Dietz gave a leadoff single to Nick Maton in the top of the second inning, but Jean Carillo caught Maton stealing to start off a series of great defensive plays for the Shorebirds. After that, Dietz retired the next 15 batters he faced, leading all the way up to a Daniel Brito infield single in the seventh.
The Shorebirds didn't find much offensive success against Young until taking advantage of walks to Mason McCoy and Seamus Curran in the fourth inning. With two outs and a 3-0 count, Trevor Craport had a green light and cracked an RBI double to left center, allowing McCoy to score and make it 1-0.
Delmarva tacked on another run in support of Dietz in the sixth. Kirvin Moesquit led off with a triple to right center and then sprinted home on a Zach Jarrett groundout to third, sliding in ahead of the tag to make it 2-0.
Craport led off the seventh with a walk and quickly stole second base, later advancing to third on a groundout. Jean Carrillo came through two batters later with an infield single to drive in Craport and help the Shorebirds manufacture a run to go up 3-0.
Naughton came in in the eighth inning and stranded two BlueClaws on second and third to end the threat. IN the ninth, after allowing a leadoff single, the righty went on to strike out two and got Nick Maton to ground into a force out to end the ballgame.
Moesquit finished 2-for-3 with a triple, run, and stolen base, giving him a league-leading 20 swiped bags on the season. Craport finished 1-for-2 with a double, run, RBI, and stolen base.
Scheiner had two of Lakewood's five hits on the night, all singles.
Delmarva notched its seventh shutout of the season, second in its past three games, and fourth in the last 10.
The Shorebirds go back to work in game two against the BlueClaws. Brennan Hanifee (4-1, 2.22) gets the Saturday night start for the Shorebirds against the BlueClaws' Spencer Howard (3-3, 4.45). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with gates opening at 6:00. Saturday is a Hit the Books Game presented by Dr. James M. Crouse at the Brace Place, and fans are invited to stick around after the game to enjoy a great Q105 fireworks show. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch App begins at 6:50 with Will DeBoer and Drew Williams on the call.