(Lancaster, PA, July 18th, 2021) The Blue Crabs came into Sunday’s rubber match game looking to return to Waldorf, Maryland with a series win under their belt. Sam Burton (L, 2-4) took the mound for the Blue Crabs in hopes of cooling off the hot bats of the Barnstormers. Southern Maryland surrendered three home runs en route to a 5-3 loss.
Caleb Gindl and Alejandro De Aza got the scoring started for the Barnstormers. The duo had solo home runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings, putting Lancaster up 2-0 after four innings of play.
After walking the bases loaded, Burton was replaced by Carlos Diaz with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. A wild pitch from Diaz brought home the third Barnstormer run of the game as they took a 3-0 heading into the sixth.
The bottom of the sixth inning started with back-to-back strikeouts for the Crabs reliever, Dalton Geekie. Following a two-out bunt single by Melvin Mercedes, Blake Gailen smacked his ninth home run of the season. The Blue Crabs trailed 5-0 after six innings.
Southern Maryland refused to go down without a fight. The top of the seventh inning included back-to-back singles by Michael Baca and Kent Blackstone. The table was perfectly set for David Harris as he smashed a three-run home run to deep left field, cutting the Barnstormers lead to 5-3.
David Harris’s late-inning heroics proved to be too little and too late. The Barnstormers relievers, Gabriel Moya and Scott Shuman came in and shut the door in the top of the eighth and ninth innings. The Blue Crabs dropped the series finale 5-3 and their second straight series. While Southern Maryland went just 1-4 on their road trip, the Long Island Ducks have won five straight. The Crabs sit 3.0 games back of the Atlantic League North Division-leading Ducks (7/18, 6:41 PM) with 15 games remaining in the first half.
The Blue Crabs return home to Regency Furniture Stadium this Tuesday, July 20th to take on the Gastonia Honey Hunters in a four-game set including a single-admission doubleheader on Wednesday, July 21st beginning at 5 PM. Barstool Sports personality, Coach Duggs will join the Blue Crabs for the doubleheader. Next, the High Point Rockers enter Waldorf for a three-game series starting on Friday, July 23rd.