The Shorebirds' bats are streaking

The Delmarva Shorebirds have gotten off to a great start under first-year manager Ryan Minor. They are 4-1, in first place, with four wins in a row and putting up some big offensive numbers. Delmarva scored six runs in the 9th Monday to beat Greensboro, 11-6. Tyler Kelly, a 13th-round draft pick last June, has nine RBI the past two games and 10 for the year to lead the South Atlantic League. In his first three games, he went just 2 for 12. In the last two, he is 5 for 11 with a homer and the nine runs batted in. The Shorebirds have scored 26 runs the last three games and have had ten hits or more four times. The Birds sport a team batting average of .293 and team ERA of 2.25. Ryan Berry, who allowed just one run over five innings in the opener, pitches tonight at Greensboro. The Shorebirds are now two wins from 1,000 all time. Delmarva has a record of 998-950 in 14 seasons plus five games. Triple-A Norfolk hosts Charlotte tonight with Chris Tillman scheduled to make his second start. In the first one, he allowed two runs and five hits over four innings. Josh Bell is batting .250-0-2 and Brandon Snyder is at .263-0-5 during a 2-3 start. Double-A Bowie is 4-1 and tied for first place behind some excellent starting pitching. The rotation of Zach Britton, who pitches at home tonight, Steve Johnson, Chorye Spoone, Ryohei Tanaka and Tim Bascom has pitched to an ERA of 1.42 one turn through the rotation. The Baysox' team ERA is 2.30. Single-A Frederick plays its home opener tonight at 7 vs. Myrtle Beach. Oliver Drake is set for his first start of the year. The Keys are 2-2 and have a team ERA of 2.32 and team batting average of .281. The Keys Opening Night kicks off with Guaranteed Win Night. If the Keys lose tonight, fans tickets will be valid for a general admission ticket for any Monday through Thursday game for the 2010 regular season.