Skeeters Sting Blue Crabs in Series Finale
Waldorf, MD – The Blue Crabs came into a scorcher today at Regency Furniture Stadium looking for a series clinching win in the finale of a three game set with the Sugar Land Skeeters. The heat index read at 110° to start the game, and while the weather was far from brisk, the pace of play the epitome of brisk. The heat took a toll on both sides, but Sugar Land rode a pair of timely home runs to a series clinching 6-0 victory over the Blue Crabs.
It took just forty minutes to get through the first three innings of action in Southern Maryland. Tommy Thorpe (L, 2-3) got the start for the Blue Crabs, and he was terrific early. It took him just eight pitches to get through the first inning of the Skeeters offense.
It wasn’t until the top of the third that a runner came around to score. It started off when Blair Beck reached on a leadoff walk. He moved to second on a groundout, and to third on another ground ball. With two outs, the speedy Rico Noel laid down a push bunt to second base, and reached first with ease, giving Beck plenty of time to come home and score, giving Sugar Land a 1-0 advantage.
Sugar Land’s starter, Troy Scribner (W, 4-3) worked fast and effectively in his own right, as he kept Blue Crabs batters off balance in the early going, heeding just three hits and not a single run through his seven innings of work, while issuing a total of 93 pitches.
Thorpe worked into the sixth inning, marking his longest appearance of the season. Wynton Bernard led off the inning with a ground ball to the left side, and his speed got him to first on an infield single. After a pop out, Denis Phipps came to the plate and sent a home run over the center field fence to score a pair of runs, giving the Skeeters a 3-0 lead.
Kevin Munson came in relief of Thorpe in the top of the seventh inning, and one costly mistake doubled the Sugar Land lead. Bernard got a good piece of a 2-2 offering from Munson and sent a wall-scraping homer over the mini-monster in left field that brought home a trio of runs and handed the Skeeters a 6-0 cushion.
A nine inning contest took just over two hours, and finished at a score of 6-0 as Sugar Land took the series from Southern Maryland.
The Blue Crabs will return home tomorrow, Monday July 22nd, for game one of a three-game set with the High Point Rockers, and a 6:35 p.m first pitch.
Catch all Blue Crabs home games on the Blue Crabs Broadcast Network, live streamed on YouTube (@SOMDBlueCrabs) Facebook (@SOMDBlueCrabs) and Twitter (@BlueCrabs).
About the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
The Blue Crabs play 140 regular season games in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Clubs. The Blue Crabs, in their 12th season of baseball, call Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Maryland home. For more information on the Blue Crabs, please call 301-638-9788 or visit http://www.somdbluecrabs.com for more information.
About the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB)
With eight teams in the Mid-Atlantic and Texas, the ALPB is a leader in baseball innovation and a player gateway to Major League Baseball. Through its exclusive partnership with MLB, the Atlantic League tests Major League Baseball rules and equipment initiatives. The Atlantic League has sent over 900 players to MLB organizations while drawing more than 40 million fans to its affordable, family-friendly ballparks throughout its 22-year history.
For more information, please visit www.AtlanticLeague.com.
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