11s are wild for Blue Crabs

Team posts 11 runs in two consecutive games vs. Newark

Friday, July 3, 2009

First baseman Patrick Osborn could only describe it as something you just shake your head at.

Down 4-0 with two outs to start the sixth inning Tuesday, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs mounted a rally. Not just any rally.

One of Herculean proportions, and that may putting it mildly.

An improbable 12 straight Blue Crabs batters reached base before the host Newark Bears could record the third out in the sixth. Eleven of those 12 Blue Crabs batters scored in the videogame of a frame.

The rally evolved into carnage on Newark pitching as the Blue Crabs launched four homers –– bookending the potent scoring production, the first three coming in every-other-at-bat fashion –– cracked nine hits, drew three walks and saw three players reach base twice via the formula of long ball and single.

The 11-run, nine-hit sixth represented all the Blue Crabs' output in the comeback pounding of Newark.

And with the offense still in turbo mode, they matched Tuesday's 11-4 win with the same victorious score Wednesday to claim the wild three-game series in Newark after coming up short in Monday's opener, 11-10.

Winning five of seven games since last week's All-Star break had the Blue Crabs holding a five-game lead over Long Island in the Liberty Division entering Thursday's series starter at Freedom Division-leading Somerset, which finished too late for inclusion into this edition.

As of Wednesday, the Blue Crabs were a season-best 14 games over .500 at 38-24 and their magic number was down to just three –– any combination of wins and Long Island losses –– to clinch their inaugural division title and subsequent playoff berth with only eight games left in the first half of the season.

Records in the Atlantic League are reset for the second half of the season.

"Everyone in the lineup is contributing and in baseball, hitting is contagious. It's funny how this works," said Osborn, who keyed Tuesday's 11-run inning with the two-out homer and later came back in the stanza with a two-run single. "It's kind of like a snowball when it gets going."

Owens, Octavio Martinez and James Shanks also connected on the long ball during Tuesday's memorable sixth for the Blue Crabs.

Shanks' dinger was a three-run shot that capped the explosive plate production. Owens and Martinez each went for two-run jobs. Shanks and Owens also had singles in the inning, as did Jermy Acey and John Ramistella.

Only Owens was stranded in the frame.

Travis Garcia, the Blue Crabs' top hitter with a .335 average, had an RBI walk during the scoring bonanza.

"You never know what you're going to get in this game," Osborn said. "Guys were going up there one after another and found a way to get a hit. It's one of those crazy things."

Both Owens and Garcia are neck-and-neck for the home run lead in the league. Owens had a league-best 13 entering Thursday with Garcia right behind him at 12.

"That should tell you a lot about this ball club," Owens said about the Blue Crabs' sixth on Tuesday. "We're not going to give [at-bats] away. We didn't miss any fastballs and get-me-over breaking balls. We were determined, and we wanted it."

Despite the rarity of an 11-run inning, it has been indicative of the Blue Crabs' offensive tear since the All-Star break. They had scored no less than five runs in their last seven games entering Thursday and were scoring more than nine per contest in six straight games through Wednesday, plating double-digit efforts in all three Newark affairs as they took full advantage of the worst pitching staff in the league.

Although, Wednesday's 11-4 win came against Newark spot starter Keith Foulke, the team's usual closer. The former Major League standout closer had a 2.43 earned run average entering the game but was touched up for six runs –– five earned –– in just four innings by the Blue Crabs.

"I can't remember a stint like this," Owens said, claiming this is the hottest he has seen the Blue Crabs offense since arriving to the club in May of last year. "I knew our offense was due."

Osborn, who has been with the team since its inception a year ago, agreed: "Off the top of my head, I can't think of a time we put up offense like this. I think we can do it on any pitching staff. We faced Keith Foulke today, and the numbers justify themselves there with him.

"The last couple days, it's the best we've swung the bats –– one through nine [in the lineup] –– as a team."

In all three contests at Newark, the host club jumped out to early leads including 3-1 after one inning Wednesday.

But the Blue Crabs offense quickly countered with a five-run second to capture the lead for good, highlighted by a Shanks RBI single that drove in a pair.

The Owens-Osborn connection was also in affect during Wednesday's second. Owens began the rally by getting hit by a pitch. Later, Osborn also took one for the team with the bases loaded to drive in a run.

Clinging to a 6-4 lead, the Blue Crabs put the game away in the ninth with another large inning, plating five more runs. A leadoff double by Osborn and another two-bagger by teammate Lance Burkhart –– good for two RBIs –– keyed the ninth.

Burkhart had three RBIs Wednesday, while Osborn and Ramistella produced three hits each. Shanks and Osborn had two RBIs apiece. Every Blue Crabs player in Wednesday's starting lineup scored a run except Osborn.

Each Blue Crabs starter scored in Tuesday's win while Osborn, Owens, Ramistella, Shanks and Martinez had multi-hit games.

Blue Crabs starting pitchers Kenny Baugh and Kenny Rayborn continued their solid showings since the All-Star break, improving to 6-3 and 6-4, respectively, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Baugh lasted five innings and allowed four runs – two earned – on eight hits.

Rayborn went 6 1/3 innings –– no-hitting Newark from the second through the sixth Wednesday –– and yielded four earned runs on five hits.

The Blue Crabs came just short of another comeback triumph Monday, nearly making up a 9-1 deficit after two innings.

In four of their five wins since the All-Star break through Wednesday, the Blue Crabs came back from multi-run deficits.

"This team doesn't panic," Owens said. "Everyone on this club realizes what we're capable of. Sometimes it takes a little bit of a momentum shift. We're a team that just doesn't quit.

"When you come to play for [manager] Butch Hobson, you come to play every game."

dcogle@somdnews.com

Tuesday

Blue Crabs 11, Newark 4

Blue Crabs 000 0011 000 – 11 14 1

Newark 002 02 0 000 – 4 12 2

WP Baugh (6-3), LP Garcia (3-1)

Extra-base hits: 2B – Just (BC), Jones (N); HR – Osborn (BC, 5),

Shanks (BC, 8), Owens (BC, 13), Martinez (BC, 2)

Wednesday

Blue Crabs 11, Newark 4

Blue Crabs 150 000 005 – 11 13 1

Newark 300 000 100 – 4 6 2

WP Rayborn (6-4), LP Foulke (3-2)

Extra-base hits: 2B – Garcia (BC), Osborn (BC), Acey (BC), Burkhart (BC), Martinez (BC), Sandoval (N)

Atlantic League standings

(Standings as of Monday)

Liberty Division W L Pct. GB Streak Last 10

Southern Maryland 38 24 .613 ---- W-2 6-4

Long Island 33 29 .532 5.0 W-2 5-5

Camden 29 34 .460 9.5 W-4 7-3

Bridgeport 27 35 .435 11.0 L-4 4-6

Freedom Division W L Pct. GB Streak Last 10

Somerset 40 23 .635 ----- W-2 5-5

Newark 33 30 .524 7.0 L-2 4-6

Lancaster 29 33 .468 10.5 L-2 3-7

York 21 42 .333 19.0 L-2 5-5

Note

The Blue Crabs' home rainout on June 18 at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf versus Camden will be made up at 6:35 p.m. July 9. It is slated to be the final game of the first half to the season. The Blue Crabs host Lancaster from July 6 to 8, precipitating the lone makeup game with Camden.