G-Rod Fans Ten, 'Birds Win Fourth Straight
SALISBURY, MD - The Grayson Rodriguez Show arrived at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium on Friday night as the Delmarva Shorebirds' ace shut down the Lakewood BlueClaws, lifting his team to their fourth straight win, 5-3.Rodriguez (2-0), the No. 5 prospect in the Orioles system, struck out 10 batters for the
SALISBURY, MD - The
Rodriguez (2-0), the No. 5 prospect in the Orioles system, struck out 10 batters for the second straight outing. He allowed just one hit and walked three over six scoreless innings for his first career Quality Start. Through two starts this season, Rodriguez has not allowed a run in 11 innings, giving up just three hits, walking five, and striking out 20.
The Shorebirds (6-1) got to the 18-year-old Santos early in the first.
Santos settled down from there, but the BlueClaw defense let him down in the second. With two out
Rodriguez ran into trouble just once, walking back-to-back men to start the third but retiring three in a row after. He retired the final eight men to face him, including inducing an inning-ending double play to end the fourth. Four of Rodriguez's six innings saw him throw just 9-to-11 pitches.
Delmarva added on some insurance in the seventh. Grenier and Neustrom hit back-to-back leadoff singles, and Hall golfed a perfectly-placed soft liner down the right field line. Both runners scored on a double, and Hall took third on a throwing error from right, putting the Shorebirds on top 5-0.
Lakewood made things interesting in the eighth inning.
With two out in the ninth,
The top three hitters in the Shorebird order combined to go 9-for-13 with four runs and three RBIs. Grenier finished 3-for-5 with a run scored; Neustrom went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI; and Hall put up a 3-for-4 spot with a double, run, and two driven in.
Matos finished 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the BlueClaws at the plate. Guzman reached three times, going 1-for-2 with a run, RBI, stolen base, and two walks.
With Hickory's 6-4 loss at Kannapolis, the Shorebirds move into a tie for first place in the SAL Northern Division.
The Shorebirds aim for five wins in a row on Saturday night against the BlueClaws.