Late Eruption Backs 'Birds in Shutout

SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds broke a scoreless deadlock wide open in their final two turns at bat, blanking the Asheville Tourists 7-0 on Tuesday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
Zach Matson (1-0) earned the win by finishing the job on a combined four-hitter for the Shorebirds (14-2), pitching the final 2.1 innings and giving up no hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Eric Hepple (0-1) took the loss for the Tourists (7-11), surrendering two runs on 1.1 innings in relief.
With neither side able to break through for the first six innings, the Shorebirds finally busted the dam in the seventh. Doran Turchin led off with a slap single into center, and Ben Breazeale followed with a sharp grounder through the left side for another base hit. After a popout and a pitching change, Branden Becker clubbed a liner over left center and all the way to the wall. Turchin scored and Breazeale took third on Becker's icebreaking double to put Delmarva up 1-0.
Nick Horvath then muscled a grounder to left through the drawn-in infield to get Breazeale home and make it 2-0. Andrew Fregia then got hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Asheville pitcher PJ Poulin's pickoff move to second glanced off leather and into center, allowing Becker to score. Cadyn Grenier walked to load them up again, and Robert Neustrom hit a weak grounder down the third base line for an RBI groundout, making it a four-run seventh for the second straight night and a 4-0 Shorebird lead.
The floodgates stayed open against Tourists reliever Mike Nikorak in the eighth. Leading off again, Turchin drew a walk and stole second base. Breazeale then bounced one over first and into right for a single, scoring Turchin. Daniel Fajardo singled, and Becker drove in another with a base hit. After a walk, Nikorak threw wild again to the plate, allowing Fajardo to score from third and making it 7-0 Delmarva. The Shorebirds could have had even more but left the bases loaded after batting around for the second straight frame.
The late offense was more than enough for the Delmarva pitching triumvirate of Ofelky Peralta, Nick Gruener, and Matson. Peralta lasted just four innings due to an elevated pitch count but kept Asheville off the board, allowing two singles and three walks while striking out five. Gruener handled the next 2.2 innings, giving up two more singles and walking one with no strikeouts. Matson got the final out of the seventh on one pitch, struck out the side in the eighth, and handled a scoreless ninth to put the Shorebirds' second clean sheet of the season on ice.
Becker finished 2-for-4 with the go-ahead double, one run, and two RBIs for the Shorebirds. Breazeale went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and an RBI. Fajardo had two hits and scored once, and Turchin scored twice at the top of a big seventh and eighth.
Daniel Montano had three of the four hits for the Tourists on the night. Asheville stranded nine men on base, including two men in the second and third.
Asheville starter Shelby Lackey rebounded from two rough outings for a fine start, tossing five scoreless two-hit innings with one walk and seven strikeouts in a no-decision.
The win was the Shorebirds' ninth in a row at home to start the season and 10th in a row dating back to last year. At 14-2 Delmarva owns the second-best record in all of Minor League Baseball; only Double-A Harrisburg in the Eastern League (16-2) can claim better.
The Shorebirds go for another sweep on Wednesday night against the Tourists. Hector Guance (0-0, 4.00) is on the hill for Delmarva against Asheville's Alfredo Garcia (0-2, 9.00). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with gates opening at 6:00. Wednesday is a Silver Sluggers Game presented by Peninsula Home Care, and the first 1,000 fans through the gates can play Baseball Bingo. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch App begins at 6:50 with Will DeBoer on the call.