In the first home game in 16 days, the FredNats showed out for the home crowd to the tune of an 8-0 shutout win over the Delmarva Shorebirds in the series opener. Jackson Rutledge pitched a career-high seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts, Sammy Infante went deep twice, and T.J. White and Jeremy De La Rosa also jumped on the home run train in the win.
Rutledge ran into a bit of trouble in the 2nd inning when Delmarva put runners on the corner with one out, but the sinkerballer righty induced an inning-ending double play, and it was smooth sailing after that. Rutledge retired the final 11 men in a row, and has a scoreless streak of 13 innings and counting at home.
De La Rosa started a FredNat rally in the 3rd with a two-out single, and after he stole second, Leandro Emiliani roped a double to the right field corner to score De La Rosa and make it 1-0 FredNats.
The FredNat bats were held quiet until the 6th when Infante led off the inning with his 14th home run of the season into the FredNat bullpen, and then three batters later, T.J. White hit the scoreboard with his 7th home run of the season to make it 3-0. White is hitting .338 in June with five home runs, 15 RBIs and an OPS of 1.056.
Infante hit number 15 on the season to give him sole possession of the league lead in homers in the 7th, a three-run bomb just tucked inside the left field foul pole to put the game out of reach at 6-0.
Then in the 8th, De La Rosa hit a 440-foot two-run shot with an exit velocity of 111 mph to make it 8-0.
Orlando Ribalta pitched the final two innings scoreless to give the FredNats their 4th shutout of the season.
The FredNats improve to 5-8 in series openers this year, and will go for their third win in a row Wednesday night at 7:05 with LHP Dustin Saenz on the mound.
