A quick update on YOUR Delmarva Shorebirds and their playoff hopes…
The Shorebirds blanked Lakewood 6-0 tonight behind strong pitching by Zach Britton (6-4) and newcomer Robert Neigebauer, along with home runs from Joe Nowicki (10) and newly coined Shorebird of the Week Wally Crancer (3). However, both teams they’re chasing also won as Lake County edged Hagerstown 3-2 while Greensboro got past West Virginia 3-1. We did formally eliminate Lakewood by beating them tonight.
Now the situation is more dire for the Shorebirds. To win the division outright, they need to finish the sweep over Lakewood while Lake County goes 0-3 and Greensboro loses at least one game to West Virginia. This scenario would allow Delmarva to sneak past both teams and finish the half 40-29 while Lake County and Greensboro both finish 40-30 for the half (the difference is a May rainout in Lexington that the Shorebirds weren’t able to make up.) If Lake County wins tomorrow night over Hagerstown, there will be a celebration in Classic Park so hopefully our cross-state rivals can dampen the mood there. Otherwise, we’ll have to hope for a strong second half and a chance to knock the Captains out of the playoffs come September.
Don’t forget to read on and check out why I picked Wally as my Shorebird of the Week. He certainly came through tonight.
