(Lancaster, PA, August 1st, 2021) After notching a season-high 21 hits in Friday’s series opener, the Blue Crabs matched that mark in a blowout series finale victory. Rubi Silva drove in a franchise-record seven RBI and came up a double short of the cycle en route to a 16-0 victory over the Lancaster Barnstormers.
Blake Bivens was lights out at Clipper Magazine Stadium on Sunday, fanning nine batters while allowing just four hits in seven and one-third innings of work. The right-hander didn’t allow a single run, and in combination with Southern Maryland’s outpouring of offense, the outcome of Sunday’s matinee was never in question.
After Silva and Josh McAdams each drove in a run in the first inning, Silva smashed a solo home run in the third inning to put the Blue Crabs on top 3-0.
It was the fourth inning when the flood gates began opening. Silva started the fourth by singling in Kent Blackstone and Zach Collier, who returned from injury on Sunday after nearly one month. David Harris added the third Crabs run of the inning on a sacrifice fly before Alex Crosby hit a solo homer, giving the Blue Crabs an 8-0 advantage.
Silva got that much closer to the cycle in the fifth inning, scoring two on a triple, bringing home his fifth and sixth RBI of the contest. Southern Maryland carried a 10-0 lead going into the sixth inning but showed no signs of stopping. Josh McAdams began the scoring in the sixth with his third homer in as many games before Collier doubled home a run. After Cesar Trejo singled in a run, Silva was retired for the first time of the day but drove in his franchise-record seventh RBI in the process.
Southern Maryland handily defeated their division rival, Lancaster Barnstormers, in a 16-0 onslaught. With the first half of the season inching to a close, the Blue Crabs return to Waldorf on Tuesday to host the Long Island Ducks. Outside of a pair of makeup games in mid-August, Tuesday’s series opener will be the Crabs final game of the first half, and the last contest before the pitching mound moves back one foot.