Bombs away for Garcia

Blue Crabs shortstop hits 3 homers

Friday, June 11, 2010

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by EMILY BARNES Blue Crabs manager Butch Hobson congratulates Travis Garcia after Garcia hit the first of his three home runs in the first inning in Wednesday's 8-1 victory over Newark. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

"I worked out more before the game than I have all year, doing leg exercises and regular upkeep to my body to prevent injury," Garcia said. "Our sports trainer stresses that by working out before games like that, he's had his best games [during his athletic career]. Maybe what [our sports trainer] said is true. It was just enough to shock the muscles."

Shocked muscles for Garcia resulted in shocking results with his bat.

Garcia cranked a Blue Crabs single-game-record three home runs against visiting Newark at Waldorf's Regency Furniture Stadium to highlight an 8-1 victory.

Each of the right-handed-swinging slugger's long balls were of the solo variety, pulling all three, as he enjoyed a memorable night at the plate going 4 for 4 with four runs scored and three RBIs. The only time Garcia did not clear the wall with his swing came in the fifth when he tripled and later scored.

He totaled an impressive 15 bases — one less than the maximum in four at-bats — with an astronomical slugging percentage of 3.750 in the game, increasing his homer total for the season to seven.

After his big night, Garcia was just one homer shy of the Atlantic League leaders, who include teammate Eric Crozier, entering Thursday.

"It's pretty good, I'll take it," Garcia said, remaining low key about the exploit. "It's just a weird game. I was telling the guys three hours ago before game time that I didn't know how to hit because it's been such an up-and-down year for me."

Likewise, the Blue Crabs also have endured their share of ups and downs this season when it's come to winning. After winning five of six games, they had slipped into a two-game skid prior to Wednesday's win.

Blue Crabs righty Dan Reichert recorded his second straight winning decision on the mound Wednesday, improving his tab to 5-4, as he yielded just a run on five hits in seven innings.

Tuesday in the series opener, the Blue Crabs fell, 6-3, to Newark in a 12-inning marathon affair that took nearly four hours, as the Southern Maryland bullpen could not protect a 2-1 seventh-inning lead thanks to a quality effort from starter Kenny Rayborn.

Newark went on to score three times in the 12th to break open a tied game since the eighth.

Thursday's series finale with Newark finished too late for inclusion into this edition. The Blue Crabs were a third-place 23-21 in the Liberty Division entering Thursday, but just two games behind first-place Camden (24-18) in the hotly contested race.

Tonight marks the beginning of a critical stretch for the Blue Crabs in their hunt for a first-half division crown and subsequent playoff berth. They begin a season-high 11-game road trip, first in York for three games, then four at Bridgeport and concluding with Long Island hosting a quartet of contests, including a doubleheader on June 19.

"That's definitely been the feeling in the clubhouse," Garcia said about the team desperately wanting to overcome its knack of inconsistency. "I know [manager Butch Hobson] is getting frustrated. It looks like we're going on that run, and it hasn't happened yet. Losing [Jarrett] Grube and [John] Halama, [our top two pitchers to major league organizations], doesn't help."

Offensive woes have been the crux of the Blue Crabs' inability to taste a hot stretch. They sported a league-worst .259 team batting average entering Thursday but were tied for the league lead with 46 homers, belting three each Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We haven't even tapped into our [offensive] talent yet," said Garcia, whose .278 average entering Thursday was modest for what he can put up. "Certain guys, like myself, haven't hit yet. We have such good hitters that if we get going, we could put people way behind us [in the division].We led the league last year in homers, and we have the boppers in the lineup. A lot of the guys can hit 15-20 homers. Butch knew what he was doing when he put this type of lineup together.

"When you have power, the negative of that is you're not going to hit .300 and .330 [all the time]. If so, those [type of homer run hitters] wouldn't stay here [because they would be signed by major league organizations]."

He added, showing complete confidence in his team, "We have the pitching to take this title and run away with the first half."

dcogle@somdnews.com

Atlantic League standings

(Standings through Wednesday)

Liberty Division W L Pct. GB Streak Last 10

Camden 24 18 .571 ---- W-4 7-3

Long Island 24 19 .558 0.5 L-1 5-5

Southern Maryland 23 21 .523 2.0 W-1 6-4

Bridgeport 18 25 .419 6.5 L-6 2-8

Freedom Division W L Pct. GB Streak Last 10

York 26 19 .578 ---- W-3 7-3

Somerset 24 19 .558 1.0 L-1 5-5

Lancaster 17 25 .405 7.5 W-1 4-6

Newark 17 27 .386 8.5 L-1 3-7

Tuesday

Newark 6, Blue Crabs 3 (12 innings)

Newark 000 010 020 003 — 6 13 0

Blue Crabs 020 000 010 000 — 3 9 1

WP Reinhard (1-0), LP Mobley (2-2), Save Smith (1)

Extra-base hits: 2B — Jones (N), Matera (N), Pennino (N), Benjamin (BC), Owens (BC); HR — Osborn (BC, 4), Crozier (BC, 8), Owens (BC, 4)

Wednesday

Blue Crabs 8, Newark 1

Newark 000 010 000 — 1 6 1

Blue Crabs 131 010 200 — 8 12 0

WP Reichert (5-4), LP Fagan (3-4)

Extra-base hits: 2B — Owens (BC); 3B — Garcia (BC);

HR — Garcia 3 (BC, 7)