Shorebirds Dominant in Series Opener
SALEM, Va. – It is often said, runs come in bunches. For the Delmarva Shorebirds (26-31) that couldn’t be truer than on Tuesday afternoon. With summer camps from around the Roanoke Valley packing the ballpark for an 11:05 a.m. start, the Shorebirds were able to lay down the hammer on
SALEM, Va. – It is often said, runs come in bunches. For the Delmarva Shorebirds (26-31) that couldn’t be truer than on Tuesday afternoon.
With summer camps from around the Roanoke Valley packing the ballpark for an 11:05 a.m. start, the Shorebirds were able to lay down the hammer on the host Salem Red Sox (25-31).
The scoring got started for the Shorebirds with a five-spot in the third inning when Red Sox starter Noah Dean (L, 1-3) couldn’t work out of a jam, surrendering a bases-loaded walk to Samuel Basallo before the very next batter Ryan Higgins roped a bases-clearing double into center field.
Delmarva would tack on one more in the inning as Isaac Bellony hit a sac fly that scored Higgins from third to make it 5-0 through three.
The Shorebirds weren’t done yet as two innings later, in the fifth, they would do it again putting up another five-spot. Again it was a Red Sox pitcher, this time Luis Talavera, that loaded the bases before a wild pitch scored Carter Young. An RBI single from Adam Retzbach prompted a call to the bullpen, placing Jhonny Felix in the game for Salem.
However, things didn’t get much better. A wild pitch scored Higgins to clear the bases, immediately followed by a walk to Anderson De Los Santos to keep a runner on board. Noelberth Romero stepped up to the plate launching his first home run of the season to left field to put the visitors up by double digits, 10-0.
The Red Sox would only have a single response in the seventh inning as Lyonell James crushed his second homer of the year over the left field foul pole.
Despite Alfred Vega delivering a solid four-inning start for Delmarva, it was reliever Alejandro Méndez (W, 2-0) who earned the winning decision only going an inning in the fifth. Moisés Chace (SV, 1) earned his first statistical save of the season dealing the final four innings.
The Red Sox used four pitchers each going at least two innings, and all four allowing at least a walk and base hit to Shorebird batters.
Salem and Delmarva next do battle on Flag Day in a doubleheader beginning at 5:35 p.m. Both games will be seven innings with the second game beginning approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one from Salem Memorial Ballpark.
Location: Salem Memorial Ballpark
First Pitch: 11:06 a.m.
Time of Game: 2:36