SALISBURY, MD - The Lakewood BlueClaws scored three in the eighth to upend the Delmarva Shorebirds late, dealing the Shorebirds a 4-3 loss on Thursday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.With the Shorebirds (11-3) leading 3-1 after seven, Dalton Guthrie started the rally by working a 10-pitch walk off reliever
SALISBURY, MD - The Lakewood BlueClaws scored three in the eighth to upend the Delmarva Shorebirds late, dealing the Shorebirds a 4-3 loss on Thursday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
With the Shorebirds (11-3) leading 3-1 after seven, Dalton Guthrie started the rally by working a 10-pitch walk off reliever Travis Seabrooke. Kevin Markham followed by scooting a grounder past short and into left for a single. Up came Jhailyn Ortiz, who banged a double to right to score Guthrie and put Markham on third. Quincy Nieporte then lifted a fly ball to right deep enough to score Markham, getting the BlueClaws (7-7) back even at 3-3. Up came Jake Scheiner, who teed off on Seabrooke for a go-ahead double to left center, plating Ortiz to make it 4-3.
The Shorebirds rallied in the ninth as Jean Carrillo singled and made it to second on a wild pitch, but Addison Russ struck out three in the inning, fanning Kirvin Moesquit on a full count to ice it.
Luis Carrasco (1-0) earned the win in relief for the BlueClaws with two scoreless innings. Seabrooke (0-1) took the loss after giving up three runs on three hits in two frames. The save for Russ was his second of the year, both against Delmarva.
Delmarva jumped on Lakewood starter Will Stewart to the tune of three first-inning runs. Moesquit and Zach Jarrett led off with back-to-back hits, and Seamus Curran drew a walk two batters later to load the bases. With T.J. Nichting at the plate, Stewart threw wild to the plate, allowing Moesquit to cross with the game's first run. Nichting then laced a groundball deep enough to short for an infield hit, scoring Jarrett. Trevor Craport shot another grounder up the middle for a base hit, bringing in Curran to make it 3-0 Shorebirds.
The rally abruptly ended on the next batter, though, as Mason McCoy grounded into an inning-ending double play to bail out Stewart.
Things stayed quiet until the top of the sixth. Ortiz led off with a double and advanced to third on a single from Nieporte. Scheiner, destined for heroics later, appeared to choke away his moment, grounding into a rally-killing around-the-horn double play. Ortiz was able to cross the plate to make it 3-1, but the Shorebirds got out of it with minimal damage.
The Delmarva bats fell largely silent after the first inning as Stewart was able to salvage a five-inning start, giving up three runs on six hits while walking one and striking out three. Carrasco took the baton for the fifth and the sixth, and Jonathan Hennigan earned his second hold with a perfect eighth to set up Russ.
Shorebird starter Cameron Bishop got stuck with a no-decision despite a third straight quality start. The Orioles' No. 16 prospect allowed one run on five hits in six innings, walking one and striking out five on 82 pitches.
Ortiz led the way offensively for the BlueClaws, going 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs, and an RBI.
Jarrett finished 3-for-4 with a double and run for the Shorebirds, while McCoy had his second straight multi-hit game with two singles.
The loss was the first for the Shorebirds at Perdue Stadium and snapped a seven-game home winning streak. Delmarva has now dropped three of its first four against their northern rivals; the Shorebirds are 10-0 against the rest of their opponents.
The Shorebirds will regroup for a rematch with the BlueClaws on Friday night. Matthias Dietz (2-0, 3.08) gets the bump for Delmarva against Lakewood's Spencer Howard (0-1, 2.25). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with gates opening at 6:00. Friday marks a visit from Tyler's Amazing Balancing Act to Perdue Stadium. It's also another Orange Friday, Froggy 99.9 Big Beer Friday, and Hit the Books Game presented by Dr. James M. Crouse at the Brace Place. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch App begins at 6:50 with Will DeBoer on the call.
