WALDORF, Md. (May 14, 2022)—The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs were boosted by eight shutout innings from Daryl Thompson (W, 2-1), who dominated this evening. Thompson kept the Dirty Birds without a hit for the first seven and one-third innings en route to Southern Maryland's 6-3 victory.
The Blue Crabs got to Charleston's starter, Jordan Stephens (L, 0-2), in the bottom of the second inning. Braxton Lee picked up a base hit with two outs. On the following pitch, Raul Shah roped a line drive into left field, advancing Lee to second. The next batter, Austin Rei, poked a liner into center field, scoring Lee and giving the Blue Crabs a 1-0 lead.
In the third, Southern Maryland struck again. With one out, Ian Yetsko shot a liner into shallow left field. Two batters later, David Harris smashed a two-run shot over the wall in left-center field, putting the Blue Crabs ahead 3-0. David Harris extended his hit streak to eight games with the blast.
The Blue Crabs added a run in the sixth with a sacrifice fly and extended their lead again in the eighth. With Southern Maryland leading 4-0, Braxton Lee stood on first base with one out. The next batter, Raul Shah, destroyed a two-run shot over the wall in left field, giving Southern Maryland a 6-0 lead.
Daryl Thompson had a perfect game going through five and two-thirds innings before Tyler Blaum reached on an error. Thompson kept the no-hit bid through seven and one-third innings. With one out, Yovan Gonzalez lifted a single into left field, ending the no-hitter. Thompson worked out of the eighth without allowing a run.
The Dirty Birds rallied in the top of the ninth inning against Alex Merithew. Mat Latos (SV, 8), entered the game with the Blue Crabs leading 6-2 and runners on the corners for Charleston. Latos induced a sacrifice fly out to right field before striking out Juan Carlo Perez, to give the Blue Crabs a 6-3 win.
With the win, the Blue Crabs move to 17-3 on the season and have won four consecutive games. Southern Maryland also extends their lead to 8.5 games in the division over the Long Island Ducks, who are in second place. The Blue Crabs return home tomorrow at 2 pm as they look to sweep the Charleston Dirty Birds.
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