FredNats Plate Three in the Eighth to Beat Delmarva
SALISBURY, MD - Three runs in the eighth inning helped lift Fredericksburg over the Shorebirds in a back-and-forth 7-5 victory. The Nationals are now 13-7, while Delmarva is 3-16. Fredericksburg took advantage of some erratic pitching from Shorebird starter Michael Forret in the top of the second inning. With the
SALISBURY, MD - Three runs in the eighth inning helped lift Fredericksburg over the Shorebirds in a back-and-forth 7-5 victory. The Nationals are now 13-7, while Delmarva is 3-16.
Fredericksburg took advantage of some erratic pitching from Shorebird starter Michael Forret in the top of the second inning. With the bases loaded, Forret walked three different FredNats to quickly make it a 3-0 lead for the Nationals.
The Shorebird comeback effort began in the bottom of the third, as Marc Davis issued a walk to Aron Estrada with two outs. Anderson De Los Santos quickly made Davis pay, when he crushed a two-run homer to left field to cut the Fredericksburg lead to 3-2.
That score held through the next three innings, as both bullpens were effective. Delmarva got three scoreless innings from the lefty Riley Cooper, while Moises Diaz spun two scoreless in relief of Marc Davis.
Fredericksburg added a run in the top half of the sixth on a wild pitch by Cooper, but Delmarva had an immediate answer in the bottom of the inning. Thomas Sosa smashed a leadoff double to the wall in center field, then Doug Hodo singled later in the frame. Then, with runners on second and third base, Alfredo Velasquez leveled the score with his opposite field, two-out single.
After a scoreless seventh inning, the FredNats got traffic on the basepaths thanks to a Brenner Cox walk and Nate Ochoa getting hit by a pitch. Everett Cooper III followed the HBP and broke the tie with a single into right field, to put the Nats up 5-4. Gavin Dugas then singled to load the bases, with Brandon Pimentel up. The Carolina League-leader in RBI’s added to his total, with a two-run double to give Fredericksburg a 7-4 edge.
Delmarva got one run back in the bottom of the eighth on a Doug Hodo solo homer, but Thomas Schultz breezed through the ninth to secure a 7-5 win. It was his fifth save of the year, with Bubba Hall (3-0) taking the win and Brayner Sanchez (0-1) getting the loss.
In the series finale, Travis Sthele (0-1, 6.23) goes up against Nestor German (0-1, 0.00) for a 2:05 start.