SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds busted off the second half starting block in a big way, downing the Lakewood BlueClaws 6-0 on Thursday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.Orioles closer Zach Britton made the start for the Shorebirds (1-0, 30-39) as part of his rehab. He pitched the first
SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds busted off the second half starting block in a big way, downing the Lakewood BlueClaws 6-0 on Thursday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
Orioles closer Zach Britton made the start for the Shorebirds (1-0, 30-39) as part of his rehab. He pitched the first inning, gave up a single to the BlueClaws' (0-1, 40-31) Mickey Moniak, and struck out two on 16 pitches before exiting his first appearance in Salisbury since 2008.
Zach Muckenhirn (3-6) took over in the second and earned the win in the de facto start, scattering two hits over six scoreless innings while walking one and striking out three. Francisco Jimenez handled a scorleless eighth and ninth to lock down Delmarva's third shutout win of the season and their second in four games.
Bailey Falter (3-4) took the loss after allowing three runs on nine hits in four innings. Falter has a 10.50 ERA over six innings at Perdue Stadium this season.
After Britton's scoreless top of the first, the Shorebirds jumped on the board in the bottom of the inning. Cole Billingsley beat out a swinging bunt for an infield single to lead off and moved up to second on a sac bunt. Two batters later, Preston Palmeiro went opposite field for a double, scoring Billingsley to make it 1-0.
Collin Woody led off the second with a double of his own, and Alejandro Juiver singled him up to third. Daniel Fajardo then lined one into center field to bring home Woody. Ryan McKenna followed with a single, the fourth straight hit for Delmarva, to load the bases. Jake Ring hit a sac fly to center two batters later to bring in Juvier and put the Shorebirds up 3-0.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth when Delmarva teed off on reliever Felix Paulino. Cole Billingsley hit a sharp grounder down the right field line for a double, and Ring found a seam in right center for his 22nd double of the season, chasing in Billingsley. Palmeiro came up two batters later and blasted a two-run homer to right, his eighth of the season, to put it on ice at 6-0.
The BlueClaws didn't get two men on base until the eighth inning, but Jiménez got a pair of flyouts to snuff out the rally and went through the visitors 1-2-3 in the ninth.
Palmeiro led the way for the Shorebirds, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a homer, and three RBIs. Ring finished 1-for-3 with a double, run, RBI, sac bunt, and sac fly. Billingsley, Juvier, Fajardo, and McKenna each had two-hit games for Delmarva, which finished one shy of its season high with 14 hits on the night. The Shorebirds' six doubles were their most in one game this season.
Darick Hall and Carlos Duran each had doubles on a quiet night for the BlueClaws, who managed just four hits and saw their six-game winning streak come to an end. Lakewood finished the first half tied with Kannapolis atop the Northern Division standings, but the Intimdators won out on percentage points to clinch the postseason berth.
The Shorebirds send Matthias Dietz (0-6, 5.54) to the hill to keep the good times going against the BlueClaws' Sixto Sanchez (2-2, 2.88) on Friday night. First pitch is 7:05 p.m. with gates opening at 6:00. In a spell of perfect timing, the first 1,000 fans through the gates at Perdue Stadium will receive a Zach Britton bobblehead courtesy of Holloway Tours. It's also another Orange Friday, plus Froggy 99.9 Big Beer Friday with 32oz Miller Lite and Coors Light drafts for $6 each. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports AM 960 and the MiLB First Pitch app begins at 6:50 p.m. with Will DeBoer on the call.
