(York, PA., Sep. 13, 2017) – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (28-38) dropped the second game against the York Revolution (38-28) 3-2, coming up just short of evening up the series.
After a scoreless first inning, the Revolution got on the board first once again in the second. Telvin Nash led off the inning with a solo homerun, his 16th long ball in 44 games since rejoining the Revs. After Drew Hayes picked up two quick outs to follow, he allowed a single to Travis Witherspoon. An errant pickoff from Hayes allowed Witherspoon to advance over to third, where he would score on a single from Ryan Dent. The unearned run allowed York to take an early 2-0 advantage in the matchup.
The Blue Crabs fought back immediately, as Luis Alen hit a solo homerun of his own to lead off the third inning. After the Alen homerun cut the deficit to one, both starting pitchers settled in for the remainder of their nights. Hayes and Jake Ezell traded two scoreless innings, before both were pulled from the 2-1 game after the fifth inning.
The Revolution turned the one-run lead over to Joe Van Meter (4-2), who immediately allowed a solo shot to Zach Cone. Cone’s 10th homerun of the season tied the game for Southern Maryland, getting Hayes off the hook for the loss.
However, the Revolution retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning off Jesse Beal (6-4). Beal got Nash to flyout to start his outing, but then gave up a triple to Rubi Silva. After picking up a strikeout for the second out in the inning, Beal allowed another Triple, as Witherspoon came through to drive in Silva and give York a 3-2 lead.
Southern Maryland looked to fight back in the top of the seventh, as back-to-back singles started the inning. Grant Sides was then able to force a groundball to third, leading to a 5-4-3 double play. A strikeout followed, as Sides escaped the jam with a runner on third to maintain the one-run difference in the game.
The teams traded scoreless frames in the eighth, before the Revolution turned the save opportunity over to Ricardo Gomez (S,2). Gomez battled with Nate Samson to start the inning, taking eight pitches before finally retiring Samson on strikes. Another strikeout followed, before Gomez hit Devon Rodriguez to put the tying run aboard with two outs. The right-hander bounced back quickly, striking out Cory Vaughn on three pitches to secure the victory for York.
The Blue Crabs return to action Thursday, September 14th for the series finale against the Revolution. Southern Maryland will send RHP Eric Fornataro (0-6, 5.25) to the mound, looking to pick up his first win of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 P.M. on Thursday at PeoplesBank Park.
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.