Reed Outduels Brault, Shorebirds Lose 1-0

Salisbury, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds were stymied offensively as the Lexington Legends earned a 1-0 victory on Friday night. Cody Reed and Matt Alvarez combined for the shutout win as the visitors evened the series at one game apiece.

From the get-go, both pitchers were on top of their games. Steven Brault retired the first nine batters he faced before hitting Alfredo Escalera with a pitch. Lexington did not record a base hit until the fifth inning. 

Meanwhile, Cody Reed kept his own shutout going through all six innings he pitched. Reed scattered five singles across his outing to keep the clean sheet. Reed was not as dominant as Brault, but he remained as effective to preserve a scoreless tie.

Lexington finally broke through in the seventh inning. After another hit by pitch, Elier Hernandez doubled down the right field line to set up runners on second and third with one out. Chad Johnson lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to give the Legends a 1-0 lead.

Delmarva pushed the tying run to scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings, but neither opportunity came to fruition. Legends' reliever Matt Alvarez successfully stranded the runner on second base in each instance.

Steven Brault settled for a loss, his first since April 30th. Brault allowed just one run on three hits, while striking out seven batters. Cody Reed earned the victory, his second as a professional. Matt Alvarez picked up his third save of the year.

The Shorebirds and Legends will square off in game three on Saturday evening. Right-hander Sebastian Vader (7-3, 3.26) will start for Delmarva against right-hander Luke Farrell (1-6, 5.52) for Lexington. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm at Perdue Stadium.