AtL Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

Benjamin's Walk-Off Single Wins It In Ninth For Southern Maryland

Published on September 17, 2010 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs News Release


Casey Benjamin's walk-off single to right field scored Christian Lopez from third to cap a wild ninth inning Thursday night at Regency Furniture Stadium, giving the Blue Crabs a thrilling 5-4 win over the York Revolution in the first of a four-game series. Just three regular season games remain before the 2010 Atlantic League Playoffs.

A pair of right-handers faced off on the mound, Corey Thurman for York, and Connor Robertson for Southern Maryland. The Revolution got to Robertson early, as Jose Herrera rapped a pair of RBI singles with two out in the first and third innings, giving York a 2-0 lead.

The advantage would be short lived however, after Patrick Osborn led off the fourth with a triple into the right field corner, and scored a batter latter on a Matt Craig RBI groundout, making the score 2-1. A batter after Craig, cleanup man Greg Porter smashed this third home run in just his sixth game as a Blue Crab to right field, tying the score at 2.

An inning later in the fifth, the Blue Crabs took their first lead of the night on a mammoth two-out solo homer to right from Benjamin off Thurman. The 3-2 lead stood until the eighth, when the Blue Crabs were able to tack on another run on an Eric Crozier RBI fielder's choice off reliever R.J. Rodriguez.

Revs starter Corey Thurman tossed 5.1 innings, allowing five hits, three runs which were earned, with eight strikeouts and one walk in a no-decision.

Down 4-2 heading into the ninth, the Revolution had the unenviable task of going up against Atlantic League saves leader Jim Ed Warden, who was in search of his 31st of the year. York beat the odds and tied it however, after Liu Rodriguez and Vince Harrison led the inning with a walk and a single respectively. Former Blue Crab James Shanks sent a one-out RBI double to the gap in right, scoring Rodriguez from second, moving Harrison to third. Harrison then scored on an Erold Andrus sac-fly to center, making the score 4-4 as Warden blew the save. That would render Connor Robertson a no-decision after tossing 5.2 innings, scattering seven hits, two earned runs and two walks with four strikeouts.

Undeterred, Christian Lopez led off the ninth inning with a single up the middle, and was sacrificed to second on a bunt from Shaun Cumberland. The Revolution then chose to intentionally walk David Espinosa, but Rodriguez threw the second pitch over the head of catcher John Patchot. The stunning wild pitch moved Lopez down to third, and Espinosa eventually got to first as Rodriguez finished the intentional walk without further incident. A batter later however, lefty Casey Benjamin stepped to the plate and pulled the first pitch he saw from Rodriguez on the ground into right-field, easily scoring Lopez from third for the one-out walk-off winner and a 5-4 final. It capped a 2-for-5, two RBI night with a homer for Benjamin, who now sits tied with Eric Crozier for the team lead in home runs with 20.

The winning decision went to Warden, who improved to 6-4. The loss dropped Rodriguez to 2-3. The walk-off win was the eighth of the season for the Blue Crabs, and their second this year against York. It was also the 20th walk-off win in the history of Regency Furniture Stadium.

At 81-55, the 2010 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are already the winningest team in franchise history with three regular season games to play, surpassing last season's win total of 79. They also hold the best overall record in the Atlantic League, and are 40-26 in the second half. Should the Blue Crabs take two of the final three games from York, they would surpass their 41-29 first half record this season, which made them the Liberty Division first half winner, clinching a playoff spot for the second consecutive year.

The Blue Crabs return to action Friday evening at Regency Furniture Stadium for the seocnd of this four-game series against the York Revolution, to end the regular season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. RHP TIm Harikkala (1-1, 7.09) will start for York, opposite RHP Dan Reichert (17-9, 4.01) for Southern Maryland. Reichert, currently tied for the single-season Atlantic League wins record, will attempt to set a new mark of 18 in his final regular season start. Don't miss out on potential history!

Check out the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs Statistics

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Atlantic League Stories from September 17, 2010


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