AtL Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

Road Warriors Rally Late in Series Finale

Published on June 28, 2018 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs News Release


(Waldorf, MD.) - The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (24-32) fell in the series finale against the Road Warriors (13-43) 3-1.

Pitching had the upper hand early on the night, as Brandon Cumpton and Raul Rivera (2-6) both came out of the gates strong. For Southern Maryland, Cumpton struck out four batters in the first three innings while allowing just two baserunners. On the other side, Rivera struck out four as well through three, but had to work around some trouble by stranding four runners on base during those frames.

The Blue Crabs opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth, putting up the first run in the game. Cory Vaughn doubled with one out, putting good speed in scoring position to create a threat for Rivera. A passed ball during the next at-bat allowed Vaughn to move to third, before another one to the last batter of the inning allowed him to score.

Cumpton allowed two runners to reach scoring position in the fourth, but a strikeout and a groundout got him out of danger. The right-hander held tightly to his lead from there, allowing just one hit over his final two innings. He handed the 1-0 lead over to the bullpen, after tossing six shutout innings.

The seventh inning brought some offense for the Road Warriors, as they took their first lead in the series. A flyout started the inning, before Chris Rivera hustled out a double for the first runner of the inning. Matt Hibbert was hit by a pitch next, putting two on with one out for the top of the order. Alfredo Silverio followed with the second double of the inning, scoring both Rivera and Hibbert to take a 2-1 lead. An RBI double from Geraldo Valentin scored Edwin Gomez in the top of the eighth, extending the lead to two runs.

Rivera exited the game after retiring 11 str, handing the advantage over to his bullpen in the eighth. The Blue Crabs offense immediately came to life, putting up back-to-back singles off the Road Warriors reliever. A hit-by-pitch followed, loading the bases with still nobody out in the inning against Luis Cruz. The southpaw bounced back with a strikeout, before handing the bases loaded jam over to Zech Zinicola.

The right-hander Zinicola came in and shut things down, striking out back-to-back batters to strand all three runners. Andrew Johnston (S,6) came on for the ninth, looking to finish off the series finale. The closer worked a 1-2-3 inning for the Road Warriors, picking up his sixth save of the season. The 3-1 victory was the first win for the Road Warriors on the season against Southern Maryland.

The Blue Crabs return to action Friday, June 29th for the series opener against the New Britain Bees. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 P.M. on Friday at New Britain Stadium.

For more information on the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, or to reserve your seat today for any of the Blue Crabs upcoming home games, please visit our website at somdbluecrabs.com or call us at 301-638-9788.

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Atlantic League Stories from June 28, 2018


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