Adam Hall and his Delmarva Shorebirds teammates rediscovered the form that has made them the best team in Minor League Baseball, crushing the Lakewood BlueClaws 7-0 at FirstEnergy Park.
Delmarva opened their scoring barrage in the top of the third. Cody Roberts singled with one out, then Nick Horvath hit into a fielder's choice. Hall followed by legging out an infield hit, and Adley Rutschman walked to load the bases. Johnny Rizer attacked a first-pitch fastball and pounded a single into right, scoring Horvath and Hall to get the Shorebirds on the board at 2-0.
Now up 4 – 0 Hall singled to lead off the fifth and promptly stole second base. Rutschman battled Gilmael Troya to work the count full, then on the ninth pitch of the at-bat Rutschman blasted a no-doubt two-run homer to right, his first with Delmarva and third of the season, to get the Shorebird lead to 6-0. Rutschman's moonshot was clocked at 105 mph off the bat and traveled 372 feet.
Rutschman, a former college kicker at Oregon State, helped the Shorebirds kick the extra point in the eighth. Seamus Curran singled to lead off, and Roberts drew a walk. Two batters later Hall got hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Rutschman lofted a flyball to left for a sac fly, scoring Curran to give the game its final 7-0 margin.
Delmarva banged out 13 hits on the night on the way to its seven runs. Hall provided a spark in the leadoff slot, going 2-for-3 with two runs and a stolen base on the way to his 43rd multi-hit game.
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