Salisbury, Md.-  Tyler Henson’s towering grand slam in the fifth inning broke a 1-1 tie and propelled the Shorebirds to the 8-2 win and the four-game sweep over the Sand Gnats on Monday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Kieron Pope and Anthony Martinez also went deep in Delmarva’s seven-run fifth inning that broke open a close game and paved the way for Zach Britton’s team-leading 11^th win of the season. Britton allowed just two runs on one hit over six innings and combined with Joe Esposito and Andrew Schindling for a two-hitter in the finale of the penultimate homestand of the season. Esposito struck out five Sand Gnats in two innings on the hill, while Schindling pitched a scoreless ninth to preserve the victory.

Savannah held a 1-0 lead through the first four and half innings behind their starter Mark Cohoon. Darren Clark’s two-out RBI single in the second, the only base hit off Britton, scored Jefferies Tatford (hit-by-pitch) to give the Gnats the early edge.

Delmarva would proceed to bat around in their half of the fifth, however, scoring seven times, matching their highest-scoring inning of the season. Monday’s seven-run fifth matched May 18^th’s 6^th inning against Greensboro, a game the Shorebirds won 10-2.

Pope led off with a solo blast, his 12^th of the year, to tie the game at one. With one out, Victor Castillo walked, Matt Angle singled, and Ryan Adams walked to load the bases. After fouling off a bunch of tough 3-2 pitches, Henson launched a moonshot over the left field fence, joining Joe Nowicki, Brian Valichka, and Adams as Shorebirds who have hit grannies this season. Two batters later, after Nowicki walked, Martinez drilled his third jack of the homestand and his 11^th of the year to cap the sensational fifth inning.

Although Paco Figueroa was the only Shorebird to strikeout in the fifth, the second-baseman made amends with an RBI single in the seventh as Delmarva tacked on another run off the Savannah bullpen.

The win was Delmarva’s 5^th in the row as they finish their eight game homestand with six wins. The Shorebirds receive a day of rest tomorrow and kick off their final road trip of the season Wednesday in Hagerstown.

Salisbury, Md.-  Delmarva used a big four-run fifth inning to break open a 3-3 tie and run away with a 9-3 victory over Savannah on Sunday evening at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Anthony Martinez’ bases-loaded double scored a pair off Sand Gnat reliever Jason Lavorgna, propelling Shorebird starter Chris Salberg toward his first Delmarva victory of the season. Salberg survived a rough second inning in which he allowed three runs on two hits and three walks, pitching through the seventh and striking out five. Salberg retired 14 of the final 15 batters he faced, with only a fielding error by Anthony Martinez interrupting the concluding streak of perfection.

Wally Crancer’s finished 2-5 with three RBI, including a two-run double in the first inning. The Shorebirds scored three times in the bottom of the first, but the lead was short-lived as the Gnats quickly took advantage of Salberg’s wildness in the ensuing frame. The Shorebirds southpaw would rediscover his command, though, as he did not walk another batter from the third inning on.

The control of Sand Gnat pitchers, on the other hand, was shaky throughout. Delmarva’s four-run fifth began with back-to-back walks of Ryan Adams and Tyler Henson. Joe Nowicki’s bunt transformed into an infield single when the pitcher could not make the play, loading the bases for Martinez’ go-ahead double. After an RBI grounder off the bat of Crancer, Kieron Pope’s single brought home another run and the Birds led 7-3.

The Birds would tack on another run in each of the next two innings, the first coming on Ryan Adams’ double that plated Matt Angle, the second coming on a fielding  error by center-fielder Richard Pena. With two outs and a runner at second, Pena simply dropped a routine fly to shallow center, allowing Florimon to score an unearned run, giving the Shorebirds a half-dozen advantage.

In relief of Salberg, Aubrey Miller threw two scoreless innings to protect the victory, Delmarva’s fourth in a row. The Shorebirds go for their fifth straight and the four-game sweep of the Sand Gnats on Monday night at 7:05.

Salisbury, Md.-  The largest crowd of the season witnessed arguably the best finish of the year.

The Shorebirds executed a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to bring home to winning run in the bottom of the ninth, walking off with a 3-2 victory over Savannah on Saturday night at Perdue Stadium in a game that the Birds trailed throughout. Nearly 9,000 fans watched as Brendan Monaghan took off from third base as Sand Gnat reliever Jason Lavorgna tossed to the plate. Standing in the box, Matt Angle dropped the perfect bunt to Lavorgna’s left. The pitcher fielded and threw to the plate, but Monaghan’s foot-first slide beat the tag and the celebration began.

The gutsy win would not have been possible if the Birds were unable to claw back with runs in the seventh and eighth innings to tie the game at two. After Kieron Pope came home on an RBI ground out in the seventh to cut the 2-0 deficit in half, Tyler Henson evened the score with a towering lead off homer in the bottom of the eighth. Henson’s ninth dinger of the season set the stage for the dramatics in the ninth. After Monaghan reached on a throwing error by Savannah shortstop Luis Nieves that put him on second base, the winning run moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Angle’s perfect fundamentals.

Brian Parker pitched a scoreless top of the ninth and earned his seventh win of the season, but major credit for the victory also belongs to starter Nathan Nery and middle reliever Robert Neigebauer, who combined to surrender just two runs in the first eight innings. Meanwhile, Savannah starter Brant Rustich saw his five shutout innings wasted. Rustich allowed just two hits and struck out six in his outing but did not factor into the decision.

With the victory, Delmarva moves to 13 games over .500 for the first time this season. At the same time, the Shorebirds have now equaled the win total from the 2007 season when they finished 68-68.

TONIGHT Robinson's Jewelry and Clock Store is hosting the LARGEST DIAMOND DIG in Shorebird history at Perdue Stadium!  Open to all ladies in attendance, this year's dig features thousands of dollars in jewelry and gift certificates to Robinson's Jewelry and Clock Store located in the Court Plaza on South Salisbury Blvd, just South of Salisbury University.  It's a Monday Madness Night, so you can enjoy the $5 package of (1) GA Ticket and (1) small hot dog and soda...then DIG FOR DIAMONDS AFTER THE GAME!  Game time is 7:05pm.