News Release, Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
New Britain, CT- On any other day, the main takeaway from tonight’s games would be the fact the Blue Crabs split a double header against the New Britain Bees, bringing Southern Maryland closer to a third series win in their last four tries.
But not today. Today, Daryl Thompson (W, 3-6) finds himself in the spotlight once more, as his win handed him sole possession of fifth place in Atlantic League history in wins with 48. The Blue Crabs followed Thompson’s complete game win by a score of 7-3 with a narrow defeat in extra innings, coming at a final line of 2-1 in 11 innings.
Daryl, who was originally drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 2003 out of La Plata High School, a school some five miles away from Regency Furniture Stadium, is still rocking and rolling on the mound. The local legend’s achievement on Wednesday evening is especially impressive considering the fact that just one week ago the right-hander slid into fifth place in Atlantic League history in innings pitched. Two monumental milestones in as many starts have been handed to Daryl in his eighth season in a Blue Crab uniform, and his first as a player/pitching coach.
The consistency and the endurance that Thompson brings to the table are simply unmatched, and the ace of the rotation found a groove yet again in his 11th start of the season as he would out match the New Britain starter, Devin Burke (L, 0-2). He extinguished the angry hive that is the Bees high-powered lineup, and got some run support in the process.
The DMV native, Kent Blackstone, and the switch-hitting wonder, Frank Martinez, teamed up offensively to ensure Thompson had the chance to lead the squad to a win in game one of the twin bill, as they would each smack a home run. Martinez’s three run shot in the top of the fifth inning blew the game open, and another Martinez RBI in the final frame put a stamp on the envelope, as it would go down as 7-3 Blue Crabs victory.
Offense was harder to come by in the second game of the double header. The southpaw, Tommy Thorpe got the start for the Blue Crabs and swatted the Bees. He didn’t allow a single hit through four innings of work, making a Josh McAdams RBI single in the top of the second inning the difference maker of the through the early stages. Thorpe, a spot starter, would exit the game following his four hitless innings. A few innings later in the bottom of the sixth, New Britain would strike back to even the scoring at 1-1 when Alejandro De Aza sent a home run out of the park off of the right arm of James Dykstra. Between the first and second game of the doubleheader, 14 innings still wasn’t enough for the Bees and the Blue Crabs, as game two would head to extra innings, the first time in 53 games that free baseball has occurred in a Blue Crabs game this season.
Additionally, this marked the first time that Southern Maryland has seen the new MLB-Atlantic League rule changes in action. These rules put a runner on second base to begin each extra inning, which has the intended outcome of a swifter end to an extra-inning affair. Former MLB Cy Young candidate, and current Blue Crabs closer, Mat Latos, tossed three perfect innings, giving him nine straight perfect frames dating back to May 29th.
Giovanni Soto (W, 2-1) was terrific as he would hold off the Blue Crabs offensive attack. Adam Choplick (L, 0-1) came to the mound in the 10th inning and avoided a jam to send it to an 11th, an inning that Southern Maryland wouldn’t escape from as De Aza walked off the Blue Crabs as the Bees would win game two by a score of 2-1.
The Blue Crabs will return home on June 21th for the first game of six-game homestand that will begin against the High Point Rockers with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.
Be sure to vote your Blue Crabs to the 2019 Atlantic League All-Star Game, just click: www.atlanticleague.com/allstarvoting.