Salisbury, MD - The Fredericksburg Nationals relied on their pitching today in a 2-1 win over the Delmarva Shorebirds to win their third in a row and tie the franchise record for first-half wins at 35. It was the second-lowest scoring game of the season, just behind the 1-0 win over Hickory in the last week of April.
The pitching was excellent from the start for the Nationals. Leuris Portorreal who had struggled as of late and didn’t pitch last series threw three scoreless innings with three strikeouts, allowing just one hit. The bats made things a bit easier for Portorreal as he entered the game with the lead as Jack Moroknek hit a triple and scored on an error in the top of the 1st.
Out of the bullpen, Grant Manning was excellent once again, allowing just one run, the first man that he faced. It was the first earned run that Manning has allowed in over a month. He threw a season high 3.2 innings, bouncing back from that run allowed, striking out five. Manning was the winning pitcher today, as the FredNats took the lead in the top of the 7th, as Gavin Fien hit an RBI double to bring Manuel Cabrera across the plate. That made it 2-1.
Jackson Dannelley then came in, in relief with two outs in the 7th and looked excellent in his FredNats debut. The 24 year old struckout three in 1.1 innings, facing the minimum in his only full inning of work. Jacob Roberts then came in and picked up his 6th save of the season, striking out two to work around hitting the leadoff man.
The FredNats look to take their seventh series in a row tomorrow and break the franchise record for first half wins. A couple fireballers go at it, as RHP Miguel Sime Jr faces off against RHP Esteban Mejia. First pitch at Perdue stadium is set for 7:05 PM.