'Claws Double Up 'Birds, 6-3

Salisbury, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds fell behind early and never recovered against the Lakewood BlueClaws on Thursday night. A night after a 4-0 shutout, Delmarva (56-54) could not submit another superb pitching performance, losing 6-3 to even up the series at one game apiece.

In the opening moments of the game, Lakewood jumped out to a lead. Dylan Cozens and Willians Astudillo each slapped two-out RBI singles off Shorebirds' starter Mitch Horacek. The lefty then allowed three runs in the third inning on another RBI base hit by Astudillo and a two-run single by Malquin Canelo.

After falling behind 6-1, Delmarva slowly climbed back into the game. Three consecutive singles from Jeff Kemp, Chance Sisco and Creede Simpson scored a run in the fifth inning. Josh Hart notched an RBI grounder in the eighth inning to make it 6-3. However, Delmarva left runners in scoring position in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings. In total, the Shorebirds stranded eleven runners aboard in the game.

Yacksel Rios improved to 5-0 with the win for Lakewood. Mitch Horacek struck out eight batters, but he matched a season-high with six runs allowed. Horacek fell to 5-10 on the season with the defeat. Dan Child locked up his second save with a perfect ninth inning.

The Shorebirds will face off against Lakewood in game three on Friday evening. Left-hander Bennett Parry (0-0, 1.29) will make his first start since his promotion from Aberdeen. The BlueClaws counter with right-hander Ranfi Casimiro (2-9, 5.53). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm at Perdue Stadium.