The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (31-21, 61-61) really know how to walk the walk as they got their second walk off win in a row Wednesday night. The 6-5 win came in the bottom of the twelfth inning against the Camden Riversharks (22-30, 56-65). It was also the third in a row against the Riversharks and it broke the franchise record for most walk off wins in a season with nine.
The Blue Crabs continue to find ways to win games and their .596 winning percentage in the second half which is second best in the Atlantic League behind the Lancaster Barnstormers. Tonight’s was another relentless one as the Blue Crabs went into the bottom of the ninth down 5-4. The rally got started with a Brian Barton walk, followed by a Casey Benjamin single, which moved Barton to third. After a Jesse Gutierrez strike out, Matt Padgett singled to center field to drive in Barton and tie the game.
In extra innings, the two teams traded scoreless punches until the twelfth inning. The bottom half didn’t start great for the Blue Crabs with consecutive outs by Christian Lopez (4-3 putout) and James Shanks (pop out in foul territory). With two down, short stop Kevin Rios got things going with a single to center field. Jeremy Owens then advanced to first with a walk, and Rios moved to second. Then Mike Daniel hit a scorcher to second baseman Lloyd Turner. The ball took a hard bounce in front of Turner and then ricocheted off of his glove and into right field. The error allowed Rios enough time to get all the way home to score the winning run.
Deinys Suarez (5-6) received the win for the Blue Crabs. Through 2 innings pitched, he allowed no runs, no hits, and struck out one.
Blake King (2-5) received the loss for the Riversharks. In 2/3 of an inning pitched, King served up 1 run on 1 hit and 1 walk. He struck out none.
Daryl Thompson dazzled in middle relief for the Blue Crabs. In 4 2/3 innings pitched he did not allow any runs. He gave up only 2 hits and struck out 8 batters. Blue Crabs manager Patrick Osborn decided to move Thompson to the bullpen which could pay off big down the stretch with these types of performances in tight games.
Dan Reichert made his return to the Blue Crabs pitching rotation coming off the DL with a broken finger. In 3 1/3 innings of work, he allowed 5 runs off 7 hits. He walked 3 and struck out 1 batter.
The Blue Crabs will go for the series sweep against Camden Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm at Regency Furniture Stadium. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.somdbluecrabs.com.
Notes: The Blue Crabs were busy with some transactions the past two days. With the activation of Dan Reichert, the team also placed Eduardo Morlan to the Inactive List. The Blu
