(New Britain, CT., Aug. 15, 2017) – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (13-24) dropped the opener against the New Britain Bees (15-21) 11-0, behind a complete game shutout from Kyle Simon (8-10).
The teams traded scoreless first innings, before the Bees were able to open the scoring in the bottom of the second. Jon Griffin singled with one out in the inning off Southern Maryland’s starter Brian Grening (7-6). Craig Maddox followed with a two-run homerun off his former teammate, giving the Bees an early 2-0 lead.
Grening continued his struggles in the third inning, as the Bees added three more to their lead. James Skelton got the scoring in the inning started with a one-out solo homerun. Michael Crouse singled behind the homerun, stealing second to get in scoring position. Yusuke Kajimoto traded places with Crouse on a double to left that scored another. Two batters later, Kajimoto stole third, allowing him to score on a Griffin single to make the lead 5-0.
The offense wasn’t done though, as New Britain added two more to their lead in the fourth on a two-run homerun from Crouse. That ended the day for Grening, turning the game over to the bullpen after just four innings of work.
Simon was strong on the mound for the Bees, allowing just one hit through the first five frames. The Blue Crabs finally put their first man in scoring position in the sixth, when Edwin Garcia reached third. Garcia walked with one out in the inning, going first-to-third on a two-out single from Patrick Palmeiro. Simon recovered to retire Cory Vaughn, stranding the pair on base.
The Bees continued to pour it on in the bottom half of the inning, adding two more runs. Michael Baca got the two-out rally started, connecting on just his second homerun of the year. James Skelton followed the solo shot with a single, moving to second on a walk from Crouse. Kajimoto came through with a hit once more, scoring Skelton from second to put New Britain ahead 9-0.
An error and a sacrifice fly allowed two more runs to cross in the seventh, giving Simon an 11-0 lead to work with on the mound. The right-hander continued to dominate the Southern Maryland offense, giving up just two hits in his final three innings, en route to a complete game shutout victory. This was Simon’s league-leading third complete game of the season, and his second against the Blue Crabs.
The Blue Crabs return to action Wednesday, August 16th for the second game in the three-game series against the Bees. Southern Maryland will send RHP Daryl Thompson (6-6, 3.86) to the mound, looking to even up the series. He will matchup with New Britain’s RHP Jonathon Pettibone (1-5, 4.60). First pitch in the game scheduled for 6:35 P.M. on Wednesday at New Britain Stadium.
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.