Adam Hall and his Delmarva Shorebirds teammates saw their season-opening home winning streak come to a dramatic end, splitting a doubleheader with the Augusta GreenJackets at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
Hall and his teammates cruised to a 5-1 win in Game 1, while the GreenJackets pulled off a stunning comeback in Game 2 to win 6-3.
In Game 1, the Shorebirds rode the left arm of Drew Rom (1-0), who picked up his first professional win. The Orioles' No. 28 prospect allowed an unearned run on five hits in five innings, walking one and striking out three. Sean Hjelle (0-2) took the loss for the GreenJackets, giving up four runs on four hits in three frames.
Delmarva got the ball rolling in the bottom of the second as Seamus Curran rocked a flyball deep to right center for a two-run homer, his second in three games, to put the Shorebirds up 2-0.
Aggressive base running paid dividends for the Shorebirds in the third. Robert Neustrom had a one-out single and stole second, taking third on an Hall groundout. Doran Turchin then drew a walk to put men on the corners. On a pitch to Encarnacion, Turchin broke for second, and Neustrom broke for the plate on the throw from catcher Jeffry Parra. The double steal produced another run, and the throw sailed into center to let Turchin take third. Encarnacion followed with a chopper up the third base line for an infield hit, scoring Turchin to make it 4-0 Delmarva.
The teams traded runs in the fourth to make the score 5-1.
Zach Matson finished off the game for Delmarva, tossing two scoreless one-hit innings to bring it home and extend the Shorebirds' season-opening home winning streak to 12 games.
With Delmarva up 3-0 in the top of the seventh in Game 2, the GreenJackets roared back against Tim Naughton. Diego Rincones led off with a walk, and Tostado singled to put two men on. Jacob Gonzalez laced a double down the right field line, scoring Rincones and moving the tying runs into scoring position. Aaron Bond got plunked to load the bases, and Franco and Andres Angulo drew back-to-back bases loaded walks, forcing in the tying runs. Ismael Mungia then notched a go-ahead two run single, and Jose Layer followed with a base hit of his own to drive in another and make it 6-3 Augusta.
Preston White picked up the win in relief for the GreenJackets, tossing a scoreless fifth and sixth to keep it close. Naughton took the loss after failing to record an out in the seventh.
The loss overshadows a stellar pitching performance from Delmarva's Gray Fenter, who went six scoreless innings in a no-decision. Fenter faced just two over the minimum, allowing three hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
Delmarva scored early in the nightcap as well. In the bottom of the third, Nick Horvath got hit in the batting helmet to lead off and stole second base. Robbie Thorburn hit a flyball deep enough to get Horvath to third, and Hall followed with a sac fly to right to make it 1-0 Shorebirds.
The bottom of the fifth provided both insurance runs and missed opportunities. Hall reached on an error to load the bases, and Neustrom muscled a single past first to bring in a run. After a strikeout, Daniel Fajardo hit a sharp grounder to third, Gonzalez made a diving stop on it, but his throw to first was late, and Thorburn scored on the infield hit to push the Delmarva lead to 3-0.
Munguia proved to be a spark in the nine-hole for the GreenJackets, going 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Layer finished 2-for-4 with a triple and RBI.
The loss ends the Shorebirds' undefeated streak at home at 12 games.
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