Delmarva Falls Short, 3-2

Salisbury, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds came up just short against the Kannapolis Intimidators, falling 3-2 on Wednesday evening. Delmarva (19-19) failed to start the road trip with a win after taking six of seven at home this past week.

Drew Dosch put the Shorebirds on the board early in the first inning. With two outs, Dosch launched a solo home run to give Delmarva a 1-0 lead. The advantage did not last long for the Shorebirds.

Mitch Horacek came into his start looking to build on his success from the homestand. The left-hander earned his first win with seven shutout innings against Augusta last time out. Kannapolis took advantage of an early defensive mistake to ensure they would not follow suit. With two outs in the first, the Intimidators scored on an error by Trey Mancini. Kale Kiser scored from second base after a slow roller fell out of Mancini's glove as he stumbled on his way to first base. Another run came in on an RBI single by Carl Thomore.

After the two unearned runs in the first, Kannapolis extended its lead with a long ball in the third inning. Jared Morris launched a solo shot to left-center off Horacek, his fourth home run of the season.

Trailing 3-1, Delmarva cut into the Intimidators' lead but could not get over the hump. In the seventh inning, Chance Sisco ripped a leadoff double down the right field line. After a walk to Gregory Lorenzo, both runners moved up on a wild pitch to move the tying run into scoring position. Mike Yastrzemski delivered a sacrifice fly to score Sisco, but Lorenzo was left at third when Jeff Kemp bounced out to third.

In the eighth inning, the Shorebirds left the tying run in scoring position again. Dosch walked, and Hart singled on a bloop to center to put two aboard. However, Hector Veloz flied out to left and Sisco struck out looking to end the threat.

Mike Yastrzemski singled in the ninth inning, extending his hit streak to 14 games, the longest by a Shorebird in 2014. Delmarva could not bring across the tying run, falling back to a .500 record on the year.

Tyler Barnette (2-1) earned the win for Kannapolis, and David Putnam recorded his second save. Mitch Horacek fell to 1-4, settling for a defeat despite allowing just one earned run in six innings. Bennett Parry pitched two scoreless innings in relief for Delmarva.

The Shorebirds and Intimidators will continue their three-game series on Thursday evening. Delmarva turns to Sebastian Vader (4-1, 3.62) against Kannapolis righty James Dykstra (2-4, 3.86). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm at CMC-NorthEast Stadium.