Lino's big day fuels Shorebirds' romp

It's not a bad game when you can raise your OPS nearly 400 points.

Gabriel Lino came into Sunday hitting .222 with two doubles, three RBIs and a .563 OPS. Those numbers look dramatically different after the 18-year catcher went 4-for-5 with two homers, a double, four RBIs and three runs scored.

The Orioles' No. 11 prospect led a 15-hit attack at Perdue Stadium as the Class A Delmarva Shorebirds scored nine times in the first inning and cruised to a 19-2 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

The big afternoon raised Lino's average to .313, doubled his RBI total to six and brought his OPS all the way up to .955.

The native of Venezuela hit his first full-season homer in the second inning, taking reliever Daniel Oliver over the left-field fence for a solo shot. He connected off Austin Brice for a two-run blast in the seventh, becoming the first Shorebird to homer twice in one game since Tyler Kolodny on April 18, 2010.

Orioles No. 5 prospect Jason Esposito, a second-round pick in last year's Draft, was 3-for-4 with a double, four runs scored and three RBIs. Sammie Starr hit a first-inning grand slam, doubled and drove in five runs, helping Delmarva to its biggest game since a 19-0 rout of Lexington on July 13, 2009.

Greensboro actually took a 1-0 lead on Terrence Dayleg's RBI single in the top of the first, but Delmarva answered with nine runs in the bottom half. The rally featured Lino's RBI double and the first slam of Starr's three-year career.

Shorebirds starter Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0) allowed two runs on six hits over five innings for the win, while Matt Taylor fanned four over four scoreless frames for his first save.

Greensboro's Jose Urena retired only two batters and was charged with nine runs -- two earned -- on four hits and four walks. He struck out a pair.