SALISBURY, MD: Augusta’s longest win streak in nearly two years came to a close Saturday night, as the ‘Jackets fell behind following a 91-minute rain delay and could not quite complete a late comeback.
The ‘Jackets got off to a quick start once again, manufacturing a run in the top of the first thanks to the speed of John Gil. Gil began the game against Sebastian Gongora with a single, and promptly stole both second and third. Gil advanced home with two outs on a balk from Gongora, granting Augusta its second straight game with a first-inning run.
The Delmarva offense had been quiet most of the week, but saw Rayven Antonio well immediately, loading the bases in the first before bringing a run home in the second via an RBI single from Luis Guevara. Guevara entered as a defensive replacement in the 2nd, and reached base twice in his stateside debut.
Ominous gray clouds had circled the ballpark for most of the afternoon, and finally struck in the 3rd, sending heavy rain and lightning that forced a lengthy delay. Both Antonio and Gongora were lifted after the stoppage, and replaced by Seth Keller and Evan Yates, respectively.
Keller navigated the end of the third well, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the 4th. The Shorebirds loaded the bases on a double, catcher’s interference, and walk, and Keller hit Maikol Hernandez with a 2-2 changeup to bring the go-ahead run home. Another free pass to Kevin Guerrero gave Delmarva a 3-1 lead, which would be enough for the victory.
The GreenJackets were consistently unable to solve Yates, who worked five innings with just three hits allowed en route to his first professional win. His only blemish came in the 8th, when Nick Montgomery cracked a two-out double to score Gil and cut the defecit to one.
Yates was aided by home plate umpire Kaleb Kador, whose ever-widening strike zone drew the ire of many Augusta representatives to the point that co-hitting coach Ruben Gotay was ejected after a particularly memorable call ended the top of the 7th.
Augusta received stellar relief efforts from Jacob Kroeger and Jacob Gomez to hold Delmarva at three runs, but never got the chance to tie the game. Simon Leandro worked a 1-2-3 9th inning for his first Single-A save, and simultaneously ended both the GreenJackets’ 6-game winning streak and the Shorebirds’ 8-game losing streak.
Tomorrow, Augusta sees the Shorebirds one final time, playing a 2 p.m. matinee to end the series at Perdue Stadium. The ‘Jackets will follow the game with a long bus ride to Kannapolis, where they will prepare for six games against the Cannon Ballers beginning Tuesday.
Delmarva will not reciprocate Augusta’s journey north, and have not been to Augusta in the last three seasons.
