Blue Crabs Feeling 'Sweepy"
Published on August 10, 2011 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs News Release
Waldorf, MD-The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs swept a doubleheader from the Road Warriors on Wednesday night at Regency Furniture Stadium, 5-1 in game one and 6-2 in game two, in front of 4,635 fans as starters Virgil Vasquez and Brian Slocum each went the distance in their respective games.
In game one, the Blue Crabs cruised to a 5-1 victory behind a one-run, four-hit performance from Vasquez who only walked one and struck out five as he moved to 7- 6 on the season.
The scoring for Southern Maryland started in the second as an RBI single from right fielder Richard Giannotti gave the Blue Crabs a 1-0 lead. The Blue Crabs added single runs in the third and fourth innings on a sac fly from third baseman Travis Garcia in the third and a bunt RBI single by centerfielder Adam Godwin in the fourth to extend Southern Maryland's lead to 3-0.
The Road Warriors got their lone run in the fifth as catcher Josh Johnson (7) led off the frame with a solo homerun to cut the Blue Crabs' lead to two.
But Southern Maryland responded with a two-run bottom of the fifth as a lead-off, solo shot by Brian Barton (7) got the run back for the Blue Crabs. The homer was estimated at an eye-popping 470 feet.
Leftfielder Ben Harrison would follow that up with a sac fly later in the inning to make the final margin 5-1.
Road Warriors starter Christopher Mason (0-4) took the loss after allowing five runs on 10 hits in 4.2 innings.
Game two was more of the same as Southern Maryland got a complete-game effort from Slocum who allowed only two runs on eight hits. He also walked none and struck out six.
The Blue Crabs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to a RBI single from Barton and a throwing error from Road Warriors third baseman Joe Jiannetti, which allowed Barton to score from second. The Blue Crabs added another run in the second as a sac fly by Giannotti produced his second RBI of the doubleheader and made the score 3-0.
The Road Warriors made things close in the third as they plated two runs. After leftfielder Victor Gutierrez led off with a single and centerfielder Adrian Ortiz moved him to third on a double with no one out, second baseman Marcos Cabral drove in Gutierrez with a ground out to second to put the Road Warriors on the board and move Ortiz to third. Shortstop Danny Gonzalez followed that with a groundout to short that scored Ortiz and cut the Southern Maryland lead to 3-2.
However, the Blue Crabs would not be denied as they added a run in the third and two more in the fourth to put the game away. In the third, a lead-off triple by Harrison was followed by another sacrifice fly, this time from shortstop Tanner Townsend, to make the score 4-2. It was the third sac fly of the double dip for the Blue Crabs
Third baseman Kody Kirkland (2) then finished the scoring in the fourth with a two-run homer to make the final margin 6-2. Both of Kirkland's homers this season have come against the Road Warriors as he finished the doubleheader 4-7 with a homer, two triples, two RBI and a three runs scored. Both of his triples came in game one.
In addition to Kirkland's heroics for the twin bill, Harrison went 3-4 with a triple and a run scored while Barton finished the night going 3-6 with a homer, two RBI, two runs, and two stolen bases. Also, second baseman Brandon Pinckney had three singles in seven at-bats along with a run scored. Townsend had two hits as well with a run and RBI, while Giannotti drove in two runs as well.
The Road Warriors got a 3-7 performance from Ortiz who doubled three times and scored a run. Former Blue Crab Jianetti went 2-5 with two doubles and first baseman Melvin Dorta went 2-6 with a stolen base. For game two, leftfielder Victor Gutierrez went 2-3 with a run scored.
Taking the loss in game two for the Road Warriors was starter Luke Massetti (7-10) who allowed six runs on 11 hits in five innings of work. He also walked one and struck out five.
For the Blue Crabs, the two complete games gives them four for the season; all of which have occurred in the last 11 days with Vasquez recording two of them. Eddie Rodriguez went the distance in a win at York on July 31st and Vasquez went nine innings on August 4th in a 2-0 loss to Camden at home.
The Blue Crabs will go for the sweep against the Road Warriors in the finale of a three-game series on Thursday at 7:05 from Regency Furniture Stadium. The Blue Crabs will send righty Eddie Rodriguez (4-4, 4.62 ERA) to the bump against southpaw Miguel Martinez (5-8, 3.91 ERA for the Road Warriors. The game can be heard on www.somdbluecrabs.com.
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