(Bethpage, NY., Aug. 15, 2018) – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (12-20) won the series finale against the Long Island Ducks (22-13) 9-1, allowing just one-hit combined on the night.
A scoreless first inning started the night, before Long Island opened the scoring in the second. A pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for the Ducks with one out against David Wayne Russo (1-4). Ford would score on a sacrifice fly from Dioner Navarro to give Long Island an early 1-0 advantage.
The lead didn’t last long, as Southern Maryland responded with two runs in the top of the third. Cory Vaughn led off with a single, moving around to third on a double from Craig Maddox. A second straight double ensued, as Angelys Nina brought home Vaughn to even the score. A sacrifice fly from Ryan Strausborger brought home Maddox, giving the Blue Crabs the lead.
The offense continued in the fourth, as the Blue Crabs put up three more runs on Jake Fisher (6-6). Jon Griffin singled to start the frame, which was immediately followed by a two-run homerun from Frank Martinez. After a groundout, Vaughn was hit by a pitch to reach for a second time in the game. An error at third allowed Nina to extend the inning, moving Vaughn around to third where he would score on a Strausborger single.
The offensive support continued adding two more runs to the lead in the top of the sixth. Vaughn and Maddox both led off with singles, putting runners on the corners with no outs and ending the night for Fisher. Jose Cuas came out of the pen for Long Island and after a strikeout, allowed a single to Strausborger that scored Vaughn. A walk loaded the bases, with a Teodoro Martinez single plating Maddox to take a 7-1 lead before Cuas got out of the inning.
Russo’s day ended after six stellar innings, allowing just one run on one hit and four walks. The southpaw turned things over to his bullpen in the seventh, who picked up where the starter left off with a scoreless frame. Maddox and Nina then singled to lead off the eighth, getting the offense rolling once again. A flyout moved Maddox up to third, which allowed him to score on a groundout from Edwin Garcia. Back-to-back singles would follow that, with Jon Griffin bringing home Garcia for the ninth run of the game.
The eight-run lead was turned over to Sam Runion in the bottom of the ninth. The right-hander continued the strong pitching performance, working a 1-2-3 inning to finish off the 9-1 win. The one hit allowed from Russo, Shane Watson, Jason Creasy, and Runion were the fewest allowed in a game by the Blue Crabs pitching staff this season.
The Blue Crabs return to action Thursday, August 16th for the series opener against the Road Warriors. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 P.M. on Thursday at Regency Furniture 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.