Walker Blast Lifts Shorebirds to 7-4 Win

Hagerstown, MD - After losing the lead in the eighth inning, the Delmarva Shorebirds (5-3) scored three runs in the tenth inning to defeat the Hagerstown Suns (4-4) 7-4 at Municipal Stadium on Thursday night.

The Suns jumped to an early lead in the second.  Brandon Miller stroked a double to deep center field.  He later scored on a soft grounder to first by JR Higley.

The Shorebirds knotted the game in the third inning.  Wynston Sawyer connected on his first career triple to the right field corner to begin the inning.  Then, Adrian Marin lifted a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game at 1-1.

In the fifth inning, the Shorebirds took their first lead of the night.  Creede Simpson, who replaced Roderick Bernadina in the second, blasted a solo homer to left field to give the Shorebirds a 2-1 lead.  Sawyer followed with a single up the middle.  Two batters later, Anthony Vega singled.  Then, Torsten Boss hit a two-out triple down the right field line to score both runners.

Kannapolis responded in the bottom of the fifth.  Craig Manuel and Wes Schill hit back-to-back singles to open the inning.  With one out, Tony Renda hit a double to the wall in left-center field to trim the gap to 4-3.

Shorebirds starter Mark Blackmar lasted 4.1 innings and did not factor into the decision.  He allowed five hits and three runs.

Suns starter Ivan Pineyro went five innings and yielded six hits and four runs.

In the eighth inning, the Suns capitalized on an error to tie the game.  Esterlin Martinez singled and reached second on a wild pitch.  Then, Martinez broke to third and surprised Miguel Chalas, who threw wide to third and Martinez came down the line to score.

Chalas went 3.2 innings of middle relief.  He yielded just two hits and one unearned run.

In the top of the tenth, Boss reached on a one out single to right field.  Then, Christian Walker hit a long two-run homer to left-center to put the Shorebirds in front 6-4.  Nik Balog followed with a double down the left field line.  Two batters later, Creede Simpson hit a ground rule double over the left field wall to stretch the lead to 7-4.

Matt Price earned the win by tossing two scoreless innings in the end.  Price did not allow a hit and struck out two.

The Shorebirds and Suns play game two of the series at Municipal Stadium on Friday, April 12 at 7:05pm.