The Delmarva Shorebirds saw their first six-game series action over this past week. The week started out promising with two straight wins. However, it ended with losses in the last four games against the Chicago White Sox’s Low-A affiliate, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.
Here are the final scores from this week:
Game 1: DEL 7, KCB 2
Game 2: DEL 12, KCB 2
Game 3: DEL 5, KCB 6
Game 4: DEL 4, KCB 14
Game 5: DEL 6, KCB 9
Game 6: DEL 4, KCB 5
The Shorebirds’ offense, especially the big three, had a good week regardless. The big three we are mentioning are Jackson Holliday, Creed Willems and Samuel Basallo.
Those three prospects are some of the most talented in the whole Orioles organization, yet their firepower was no match for the poor pitching seen from the Shorebirds staff once again.
The offense scored 38 runs in this series, which actually matched the 38 runs scored by the Cannon Ballers. However, the problem was 34 of the runs for the Cannon Ballers came in games three through six alone.
Nearly every pitcher sent out in those games got hit, including Juan De Los Santos, who picked up his second loss and saw his ERA rise to a 15.63. De Los Santos is a very good young arm that will bounce back from this rough start.
One positive from the mound came from another young arm that most have never heard of. Edgar Portes, 20, had himself a second good outing in his game two appearance. Portes tossed 3.1 scoreless innings that featured four strikeouts and a win. He is now 2-0 with five strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
Offensively, it was much brighter for the Shorebirds. Holliday, Willems, and Basallo led the way in these six games, with at least one of them hitting safely in each game.
Holliday showed again why he was the No. 1 overall pick. In five games, Holliday went 5-for-19. However, four of those hits were for extra bases.
The 19-year-old lefty had two doubles, a triple, a home run and five runs batted in. Holliday now has an OPS of 1.068.
Samuel Basallo, the young catching prospect, continues to shine in Delmarva. In this series, Basallo hit safely in all five games he started and had three RBIs. On top of the offensive production, Basallo showed his versatility defensively by starting at first base as well as at catcher.
Creed Willems was maybe the hottest bat this week. To no surprise, Willems showed off his power again by smashing two home runs this series. That puts him at four for the young season while hitting .429 with a 1.493 OPS.
A few other bats showed out as well, including center fielder Stiven Acevedo and first baseman Max Costes.
Acevedo had a couple of multi-hit games, including a 3-for-4 day with an RBI in Delmarva’s game five loss.
The Baltimore Native and University of Maryland Alumni, Costes, had himself a series to remember, as he hit his first professional home run in game six. Also, Costes made a pitching appearance in the game four blowout. He forced an inning-ending double play to cap off a scoreless 0.2-inning outing.
The Shorebirds now travel to visit the Fredericksburg Nationals, the Low-A affiliate for the Washington Nationals. Game one begins at 7:05 p.m. EST on Tuesday, April 18.
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