Late Home Run by De Los Santos the Difference in Sunday Finale
Shorebirds Hold On for Thrilling Mother's Day Victory Late Home Run by De Los Santos the Difference in Sunday Finale KINSTON, NC: The Delmarva Shorebirds (17-14) won a thrilling series finale against the Down East Wood Ducks (18-13) on Mother's Day by a final score of 5-4 to earn a
Shorebirds Hold On for Thrilling Mother's Day Victory
Late Home Run by De Los Santos the Difference in Sunday Finale
KINSTON, NC: The Delmarva Shorebirds (17-14) won a thrilling series finale against the Down East Wood Ducks (18-13) on Mother's Day by a final score of 5-4 to earn a series split.
The Shorebirds used the home run ball to take the first lead of the game in the third as Elio Prado cranked his second home run of the season over the wall in left-center to make it 1-0 Delmarva.
Down East tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning on RBI double by Andres Mesa that scored JoJo Blackmon to even the score up at one.
It remained 1-1 into the seventh inning until the 'Birds broke out for three runs in the frame starting with an RBI double by Anderson Los Santos that brought home Carter Young, giving Delmarva a 2-1 edge. Douglas Hodo then swapped spots with De Los Santos as he doubled to the gap in right-center to push the lead to 3-1. Adam Crampton completed the scoring in the seventh with an RBI single to plate Hodo, giving the Shorebirds an advantage of 4-1.
But that lead would shrink in the bottom half of the inning as the Wood Ducks scored twice on a sacrifice fly by Miguel Villarroel with the bases loaded as Jesus Moreno scored. Yeison Morrobel then brought home JoJo Blackmon with an RBI single to make it a 4-3 game.
With the game still 4-3 in the ninth inning, Anderson De Los Santos provided the Shorebirds with a huge insurance run as he blasted his first home run of the season over the wall in left field to push the Delmarva lead back to two at 5-3.
That homer would prove to be important as Abi Ortiz provided a solo home run of his own for the Wood Ducks in the bottom of the ninth to pull Down East back within one. But Hugo Beltran retired the remaining three outs with a pair of strikeouts to help Delmarva escape Kinston with a 5-4 win and a split of the six-game series.
Moises Chace (3-1) was rewarded the win in relief for the 'Birds with Hugo Beltran (1) picking up his first save. Alberto Mota (0-1) was saddled with the loss for Down East.
The offense used a pair of home run balls to top the Wood Ducks as Elio Prado hit his first since Opening Day to start the scoring in the third with Anderson De Los Santos providing the final run Delmarva needed with his ninth-inning long ball. De Los Santos helped pace the offense with two hits and two RBIs as the offense collected a total of four extra-base hits on Sunday with all of them driving in runs.
The Shorebirds will now enjoy a day off on Monday before returning to action on Tuesday as they face the Charleston Riverdogs for the start of a six-game series versus the defending champs. First pitch on Tuesday is at 7:05 p.m.