(Waldorf, MD., Aug. 2, 2017) – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (11-15) were victorious in the series finale against the Bridgeport Bluefish (14-12) 5-4, with L.J. Hoes winning the game on a walk-off single to score Edwin Garcia.
David Russo got the start for the Blue Crabs, making just his third start of the season. Russo took just one pitch to retire the leadoff hitter, before Luis Hernandez connected on a solo homerun. Hernandez’s third homerun of the season opened the scoring on the day, putting the Bluefish ahead 1-0 early in the ballgame.
Russo settled in on the mound after that, battling with Bridgeport’s starter Ross Seaton. Seaton allowed just two hits through his first four innings, before finally running into trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning. Brian Bistagne led off the inning with a double, moving up to third on a single from Jose Lozada. A wild pitch from Seaton allowed Bistagne to score and Lozada to advance to second, tying the game. After picking up a strikeout, Seaton hit b ack-to-back batters, loading the bases with just one out. L.J. Hoes jumped on a fastball, shooting it back up the middle, scoring two runs. The RBI single gave Southern Maryland their first lead of the game, 3-1 heading to the sixth.
Russo returned to the mound for a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth, in what proved to be the southpaw’s final inning of work. After his first quality start of the season, he turned the two-run advantage over to his bullpen, looking to win the team’s first series since July 9th. After a scoreless seventh, Bridgeport rallied to retake the lead in the top of the eighth. Jose Cuevas started the inning with a solo homerun, cutting the lead to just one run. After two outs, Zack Thornton gave up a single to Jonathon Galvez, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in Angelys Nina. Nina found a hanging breaking ball from Thornton, just clearing the Mini Monster in left for a two-run homerun, giving Bridgeport a 4-3 lead.
Bridgeport turned their newfound lead over to Elvin Ramirez (3-2), who picked up two quick outs in the bottom of the eighth. However, Luis Alen jumped on the first pitch he saw from Ramirez, coming through with a solo homerun. Alen’s third homerun of the season tied the game 4-4 heading to the ninth.
After a scoreless top of the ninth from Jesse Beal (6-3), Southern Maryland sent the top of the order to the plate looking for their fourth walk-off win of the season. Lozada was retired to start the inning, before back-to-back singles from Garcia and Cory Vaughn put the winning run on second. Ramirez forced a pop-out from Michael Snyder, before locking into a battle with Hoes. After fouling-off three pitches in the at-bat, the sixth pitch to Hoes was a line drive sent to right-center field, easily scoring Garcia to win the game.
The win was the fourth walk-off of the season for the Blue Crabs, and clinched the series victory. This was Southern Maryland’s first series win since prior to the All-Star Break, and their first walk-off since July 3rd.
The Blue Crabs have Thursday off, before returning to action Friday, August 4th for the series opener of the three-game series against the Somerset Patriots. Southern Maryland will send RHP Gaby Hernandez (8-1, 2.62) to the mound, looking for a strong start to the road trip. First pitch in the game scheduled for 7:05 P.M. on Friday at TD Bank Ballpark.
For more information on the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, or to reserve your seat today for any of the Blue Crabs upcoming home games, please visit our website at somdbluecrabs.com or call us at 301-638-9788.