September 8th, 2024
Zebulon, NC- The Carolina Mudcats (78-51) played host to the Delmarva Shorebirds (53-78) in a Sunday afternoon contest. The Carolina Mudcats will face the Fredericksburg Nationals in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Mudcats sent Chandler Welch (0-0) to the mound who made his first career appearance in today’s game. The Shorebirds sent Blake Money (4-7) to the mound who entered today with a 3.31 ERA in 98.0 innings pitched. The Mudcats can win the North Division second half championship with a win and a Fredericksburg loss.
The Shorebirds got on the board in the top of the 3rd when Edrei Campos scored on a sac fly to left center by Edwin Amparo which gave Delmarva a 1-0 lead. Delmarva scored again in the top of the 5th when Colin Tuft hit a 2 run home run down the right field line which increased the lead to 3-0. Then, Edwin Amparo hit a solo home run to right field which increased the Delmarva lead to 4-0. Delmarva created more offense in the top of the 6th when Elis Cuevas scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Miguel Rodriguez which increased the Delmarva lead to 5-0.
Chandler Welch threw 1.2 scoreless innings where he only allowed 2 hits. Blake Money threw 5 scoreless innings where he only allowed 5 hits.
Delmarva added to their lead in the top of the 7th when Colin Tuft scored on an error by Reece Walling which increased Delmarva’s lead to 6-0. The Mudcats got on the scoreboard when Daniel Guilarte hit a 2 run double over the head of the right fielder which cut the deficit to 6-2. Then, Luis Castillo scored on a single to left field by Reece Walling which cut the lead to 6-3. The Shorebirds responded in the top of the 9th when Braylin Tavera hit a 3 run home run to left off of Miguel Briceno which increased the Delmarva lead to 9-3
Eddy Alberto threw 2 scoreless innings where he only allowed 1 hit. Joe Glassey threw 1.1 scoreless innings where he only allowed 1 hit.
The winning pitcher for the Shorebirds was Blake Money for his 5 inning performance. The losing pitcher for the Mudcats was Eric Prado (0-1) for his 3 innings where he allowed 4 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. The save went to Joe Glassey (3) for his 1.1 inning performance. The team MVP award went to Cooper Pratt for his performance before his call up to High-A Wisconsin. The Mudcats go on the road Tuesday night at 7:05 for game 1 of the playoffs against the Fredericksburg Nationals.