SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds' late charge came up empty as the Hickory Crawdads held on for a 9-8 win on Wednesday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.Jake Lemoine (3-2) earned the win in relief for the Crawdads (34-25, 61-68), tossing three scoreless no-hit innings while walking two and
SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds' late charge came up empty as the Hickory Crawdads held on for a 9-8 win on Wednesday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
Jake Lemoine (3-2) earned the win in relief for the Crawdads (34-25, 61-68), tossing three scoreless no-hit innings while walking two and striking out four. Lucas Humpal (7-11) took the loss for the Shorebirds (26-32, 55-71), allowing six runs on nine hits in five innings. C.D. Pelham notched his 12th save by getting the final two outs of the ninth.
After going 14 innings before the first run between them on Tuesday, the Shorebirds and Crawdads combined for 11 runs in the second and third frames. Hickory started the party in the top of the second on back-to-back singles by Yohel Pozo and Andretty Cordero. Pozo came around with the first run on a pair of wild pitches, and Blaine Prescott drove in Cordero with an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Delmarva answered with four in the bottom of the second. Collin Woody led off with a double, then after a groundout Milton Ramos sliced his own double down the right field line to plate Woody. Daniel Fajardo followed with a single to move Ramos up to third, and Alexis Torres squared up for an RBI base hit to center to tie the game. Cole Billingsley hit a tough grounder that got past third and into left, loading the bases. Ryan McKenna followed with a two-run single to left, scoring Fajardo and Torres to put the Shorebirds up 4-2.
Hickory got all four of those runs back with two outs in the top of the third. Anderson Tejeda and Pozo legged out back-to-back one-out infield hits and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. Brendon Davis hit a grounder to short and beat it out for a single, scoring Tejeda as Pozo followed on an error at short. Eric Jenkins gave the 'Dads the lead by belting a triple to the warning track in left center to plate Davis, and Prescott drove in Jenkins with a single to make it 6-4.
Doubles by Woody and Fajardo in the bottom of the third got it back to within 6-5 for the 'Birds.
Leody Taveras hit a grounder to second that skidded through Torres' legs and into right. He then stole second and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Tejeda connected on a line drive homer to right in that same inning, putting the visitors up 8-5.
Jenkins notched a second triple in the seventh and scored on a Prescott sac fly to make it 9-5.
Milton Ramos crushed a line drive solo home run to left in the bottom of the eighth to get a run back. In the bottom of the ninth, Billingsley led off with an infield single, and McKenna snuck a two-run homer over the glove of a leaping Prescott in left to make it a one-run game. Jake Ring followed with a sharp grounder to first, but Cordero pounced on it and flipped to the pitcher for a tough 3-1 out. Pelham came in from the 'pen, striking out Preston Palmeiro and getting Woody to ground out to third to ice it.
McKenna led the way for the Shorebirds, going 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs. The blast in the ninth was McKenna's third home run this week, seventh of the year, and first at Perdue Stadium all season.
Ramos finished 2-for-4 with a double, homer, and two runs scored, while Woody doubled and scored twice.
Pozo went 5-for-5 with five singles and two runs for the Crawdads. Prescott picked up three RBIs, while Jenkins tripled twice, scored twice, and drove in a run.
Hickory starter Michael Matuella lasted four innings, allowing five runs on 10 hits in a no-decision.
Eight of the Shorebirds' last nine games have been decided by one run; Delmarva is 4-4 in those games. The Shorebirds fall to 21-26 in one-run games this season. Thirty-seven percent of Delmarva's games this year have been decided by one run.
The Shorebirds and Crawdads play in the rubber matchup on Thursday night with Delmarva's Travis Seabrooke (3-7, 4.67) facing Hickory's A.J. Alexy (0-1, 6.52). First pitch is 7:05 p.m. with gates opening at 6:00. The first 500 fans at Perdue Stadium on Thursday will receive an orange and white Shorebirds cap courtesy of Spicer Bros. Construction. It's also the final Kiss 95.9 Thirsty Thursday of the year, featuring 16oz Miller Lite, Coors Light, and Pepsi products for $2. The Shorebirds will wear their Maryland Pride jerseys for the final time this season; they will be auctioned off after the game with proceeds going to the Shorebirds Fly Together Fund. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports AM 960 and the MiLB First Pitch App begins at 6:50 with Will DeBoer on the call.
