Mike Durant crushed a solo home run to lead off the eighth inning and help the BlueClaws to a 5-4 victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds on Friday night at FirstEnergy Park.
Lakewood bats break out in late-inning victory
LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Mike Durant crushed a solo home run to lead off the eighth inning and help the BlueClaws to a 5-4 victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds on Friday night at FirstEnergy Park.
Durant's home run off of reliever Jeff Moore (0-1) broke a 4-4 tie and gave the BlueClaws a late lead that they would not relinquish. Jared Simon came in and got the final three outs in order to pick up his first save of the season.
The BlueClaws (6-9) and Shorebirds (8-7) battled back and forth through the first seven innings, as neither team could pull ahead by more than two runs.
Drew Naylor had another solid start in his fourth trip to the mound of the season, but still remained without a win. The 21-year old right-hander gave up just two runs on five hits in six innings. He also struck out seven and walked a season-high three hitters.
Both runs against Naylor came on solo home runs-a first-inning blast by Joe Nowicki and a fourth-inning long ball from Tyler Henson.
Delmarva starter Tony Butler battled Naylor all the way, but his defense let him down at some critical moments. The Shorebirds committed four errors and four of the five BlueClaws runs were unearned. Butler threw five innings, giving up seven hits and four runs, but just one earned.
Possibly the most costly defensive miscue came immediately before Durant's game-winning blast. Durant popped up a ball into foul territory, but catcher Brendan Monaghan could not make the catch and was charged with an error. Durant homered two pitches later, though the run was unearned against Moore.
Walter Tejeda (2-0) took the victory out of the bullpen for the BlueClaws. Moises Melendez and Tejeda each gave up single runs in one inning of work.
The bottom of the BlueClaws order chipped in with five hits, two RBIs and one run scored. The bottom four hitters in Lakewood's lineup all came in hitting below .200, but Travis Mattair and D'Arby Myers each had two hits and Freddy Galvis picked up a hit and his first RBI of the season.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. Right-hander Tyson Brummett (0-0, 3.18) will square off against southpaw Cole McCurry (0-0, 1.64). Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 National Guard car will be on the concourse at FirstEnergy Park throughout the game.