(8/2/2022, Waldorf, MD) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs led nearly the entire way on Tuesday night, coming one out away from winning the series opener with the Charleston Dirty Birds. After eight terrific innings from Daryl Thompson, the Dirty Birds tied the game in the ninth off Mat Latos, before taking the lead off of the former Big Leaguer in the tenth.
The Blue Crabs got the scoring started in the first inning. Jack Sundberg walked before stealing two bases. With two outs and a runner on third, David Harris blasted a fly ball to deep center field, scoring Sundberg to put the Blue Crabs ahead 1-0. With Harris on second, Alex Crosby punched a single into left, giving the Blue Crabs a 2-0 lead.
The Dirty Birds got a run back in the fourth before the Blue Crabs bats reignited in the fifth. Jack Sundberg walked to start the inning, Two batters later, Braxton Lee drove a liner over the Mini Monster in left-center field, giving the Blue Crabs a 4-1 lead.
Charleston chipped away at Southern Maryland’s lead in the seventh, when Edwin Espinal hit an opposite-field solo home run over the right-field wall. Daryl Thompson ended up going eight innings, allowing two runs on just four hits and no walks.
In the ninth inning, the Blue Crabs turned to Mat Latos (L, 3-3)(BS, 5). After recording a couple of fly-outs, Latos walked Nick Heath. The next batter, Edwin Espinal, destroyed a game-tying home run over the left-center field.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Kevin Siegrist (W, 4-0) entered and dominated. He retired the Blue Crabs in order in the ninth. In the top of the 10th inning, Latos surrendered another run as Diego Goris drove in Alfredo Gonzalez, giving the Dirty Birds the lead for the first time. Kevin Siegrist went back for the 10th inning, setting down the Blue Crabs in order to end the game.
With the loss, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs fall to 62-28 overall, and 14-10 in the second half. The Blue Crabs return to Regency Furniture Stadium tomorrow at 6:35 pm.