Homers Spark Shutout Win

By Eric Little

August 10, 2012

Salisbury, MD - The Augusta GreenJackets got home runs from Shawn Payne and Devin Harris and eight scoreless innings from Adalberto Mejia in a 7-0 shutout win over the Delmarva Shorebirds on Friday night - Augusta's tenth shutout victory of the season.

Payne's three-run blast in the third inning put the GreenJackets out to an early 3-0 lead. In the sixth inning, Payne was hit by a pitch while leading off the frame and scored on a two-run homer from Harris - his third in his last five games - to push Augusta's lead to 5-0.

The GreenJackets added to their lead later in the sixth on an RBI single from Jeff Arnold. An inning later, the GreenJackets took a 7-0 lead on a Jose Flores RBI double.

That was all Mejia (8-7) would need - and then some - as his eight scoreless innings went a long way to seal the win in his longest start of the season. Mejia allowed five hits and a walk while striking out six. Steven Neff allowed two hits, but kept the Shorebirds off the board in the ninth to preserve the win.

Delmarva starter Zach Davies (4-4) allowed three runs on three hits and a walk in five innings while striking out four to take the loss. His only true mistake was the three-run homer he allowed to Payne in the third inning.

With Friday's win - only Augusta's ninth on the road in the second half - the GreenJackets improve their record to 19-12 against Northern Division teams this season.

The GreenJackets will look to take three of four from the Shorebirds in Saturday's series finale between the teams. Paul Davis (5-5, 3.48) takes the ball for the GreenJackets against Delmarva lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (4-6, 3.38). First pitch from Delmarva comes at 7:05 p.m. with radio coverage beginning at 6:50 p.m. on ESPN Radio 1340 AM and www.greenjacketsbaseball.com.

On Monday, the GreenJackets return home to open a three-game series with the Lakewood BlueClaws. Single-game tickets for any GreenJackets home game are currently available by calling the GreenJackets front office at 706-922-WINS and online at www.greenjacketsbaseball.com.