Savannah 4, Delmarva 2

Savannah pitching allowed just one hit after the second inning to throttle the Delmarva Shorebirds 4-2 on Sunday afternoon.

Sand Gnats starter Steven Matz and three relievers combined on a four-hitter as Savannah won its second straight game against the Baltimore Orioles affiliate.

Matz went the first five innings to pick up the win and even his record at 4-4. Beck Wheeler pitched a scoreless ninth to record his 11th save.

The Gnats (55-40, 12-14 second half) took advantage of an error by second baseman Kris Richards to score three unearned runs in the first inning. With two outs and a runner on second, Richards made an errant throw to first trying to get Cole Frenzel. Maikis De La Cruz scored on the play, and Frenzel advanced to second. Eudy Pina followed with a run-scoring double, and Jorge Rivero, who is hitting .320 since joining Savannah on July 10, added another double to drive in Pina and make it 3-0.

Delmarva (40-57, 10-20) scored two in the second inning by bunching three of its four hits in the game. Gregory Lorenzo’s two-out single drove in both runs to make it 3-2.

The game stayed that way until the eighth when Pina ended the scoring with his 10th home run of the season.

Creede Simpson had the Shorebirds’ lone hit after the second inning when he singled to lead off the sixth inning against reliever Shawn Teufel.

Delmarva didn’t have another baserunner until Wynston Sawyer was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth inning. But Wheeler ended the day by striking out the next three Shorebirds.

The two teams will continue their four-game series tonight at 7:05. Savannah returns home Thursday night against Augusta.

Key Stats

Chad Zurcher: 2-for-5

Maikis De La Cruz: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 SB

Eudy Pina: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Jorge Rivero: 3-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Steven Matz: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 2 ER, 3 K

Shawn Teufel: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 K

Hunter Carnevale: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Beck Wheeler: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K

(Team Report)