SHOREBIRDS GAME NOTES: 5/20 vs. Hagerstown

PREVIEW: The Shorebirds return to Perdue Stadium following a 2-6 road trip against Kannapolis and West Virginia. The Shorebirds lost last night on an Evan Chambers bottom of the ninth double to right-center field. Delmarva is now 5.5 games out of first place in the Northern Division. Hagerstown comes to town after a 5-3 homestand against West Virginia and Asheville. The Suns won the final three games of the homestand against Asheville.

BIG SERIES FOR KOLODNY: Shorebirds third baseman Tyler Kolodny had a monster series against West Virginia. He went 6-for-13 with five runs, three home runs and seven RBIs. He boosted his batting from .244 to .264 in four games. Over the last five games, Kolodny has four home runs and 10 RBIs.

SIX STRAIGHT FOR BEAL: Shorebirds starter Jesse Beal went through the sixth inning for a sixth consecutive start. He allowed just one earned run in 6.2 innings pitched last night.

@ PERDUE: In 16 games at Perdue Stadium, the Shorebirds are batting just .218. They have scored 56 runs (3.5) in Salisbury. The Shorebirds pitching staff has thrown better at home (3.94 ERA) than on the road (4.54 ERA).

KOLODNY VS. SUNS: In seven games vs. Hagerstown, Kolodny has clubbed four home runs with nine RBIs to go along.

NEARING 100: Two Shorebirds are nearing their 100th minor league game played. Mikey Planeta will play his 99th tonight against Hagerstown while Ty Kelly will play his 97th.

FEWEST HOME GAMES: The Shorebirds and the Lakewood BlueClaws have played the fewest home games this season. Each team has played just 16 games at their home parks.

TOUGHEST PARK TO HIT: Perdue Stadium might be one of the toughest parks to hit at in the Orioles system. The Frederick Keys are hitting .268 with 17 homers at Harry Grove Stadium, the Bowie BaySox are hitting .245 with 13 homers at Prince George’s Stadium while the Norfolk Tides are batting .249 with 17 homers at Harbor Park. The Shorebirds have just five homers in 16 games at Perdue Stadium.

NO EARLY RUNS: The Shorebirds scored only one run in the first inning during the eight-game road trip. They plated that lone run in the finale of the road trip last night on a Ty Kelly double to right field. The Shorebirds have scored only 12 first inning runs through 39 games this year.

12 GAMES AGAINST LEADERS: The ‘Birds will play their next 12 games against the top three teams in the North: Hagerstown (20-23), Hickory (24-27) and Lakewood (28-31). The three teams have a combined record of 67-48.

SECOND IN THE LEAGUE: Brian Conley ranks second in the SAL in walks with 28. Only Evan Chambers of West Virginia has more, 31. Conley ranks first in the Orioles system (including the big leagues). Nick Markakis is second with 27.

KOLODNY ALL OVER LEADERBOARD: Kolodny ranks second in the SAL in homers (10), second in slugging percentage (.586), tied first in extra-base hits (22) and tied for eighth in RBIs (28).

MEETING NUMBER 122 IN LAST FIVE YEARS: Tonight will mark the 122nd meeting between Delmarva and Hagerstown since 2005. The Birds are 60-61 against the Suns over the last five plus seasons. Neither side has won the season series by more than three games.