Blue Crabs striking it rich

Hot Owens blasts two more home runs, including grand slam

Friday, June 18, 2010

The win moved the Blue Crabs (28-23), tied with Long Island, within a half game of Liberty Division leader Camden (28-22) entering Thursday's series finale at Bridgeport (23-28) that finished too late for inclusion into this edition.

The Blue Crabs were hopeful of claiming their fifth straight series with a win Thursday after claiming two of the first three games in Bridgeport.

The Southern Marylanders have been as hot as the weather in June, winning 10 of their 15 games in the month through Wednesday — averaging more than 5 1/2 runs per contest — while taking six of their last nine.

"We're off to a 4-2 start on this road trip, and I'm real happy about that," Blue Crabs manager Butch Hobson said Wednesday night after the game, his club in the midst of a franchise-record 11-game excursion away from home. "We took two out of three from a good York team [last weekend]. This is a good time for us. I like where we are with our pitching and defense.

"Have we peaked offensively? I don't think so. I think we're real close to being consistent."

Again, center fielder Jeremy Owens was in the middle of the Blue Crabs offensive heroics Wednesday as his bat remained on fire with a pair of home runs and six RBIs.

His two-out grand slam in the seventh buried Bridgeport, which had shrunk the Blue Crabs' lead to three runs after trailing by as much as 7-1 throughout 4 1/2 innings.

Owens was batting a lofty .351 in his previous 10 games entering Thursday with five homers, 15 RBIs and eight runs scored with three doubles, literally leading by example as the Blue Crabs' hitting coach.

The streaky hitter, who also leads the Atlantic League in strikeouts after a couple more Wednesday, was batting a struggling .176 prior to the hot stretch.

"I've always been a guy that swings and misses a lot, and I've had to deal with it," Owens said. "This isn't a cocky thing, but I know pitchers aren't better than me. I had never seen so many pitcher's pitches against me [when I was struggling], but I knew that can't happen all year.

"What helps, too, [in my hitting getting on track] is we're right here in this race [for the first-half division title]. That's big."

As the league's reigning home run king, Owens was suddenly tied for second in the league — with teammates Travis Garcia and Eric Crozier — with eight long balls through Wednesday, three behind the leader.

And Owens' 29 RBIs knotted Matt Craig for the team lead, tied for ninth in the league.

"Jeremy would be the first to tell you he's a streak guy. He works hard," Hobson said of his player that he calls the best center fielder in the league. "We've found some drills [in batting practice] that work for him, and that's what he's been doing. The strikeouts are going to happen. When you have good production at the sixth and seventh spot [where Owens has been batting], it takes the pressure off the guys at the top."

Hobson added about Owens' travails at the plate throughout the season before getting hot, "He doesn't let it affect him. He's a ballplayer."

While Owens put on a long-ball show Wednesday that included a two-run homer in the first, he got plenty of help.

Craig and Crozier, who batted clean-up and fifth in the lineup right in front of Owens, combined for five RBIs, three runs scored and a pair of doubles.

Craig, Owens and Casey Benjamin each had two hits to lead the Blue Crabs, which saw all but two players in the lineup boast a base knock. The two who did not come through with a hit — Pat Osborn and Octavio Martinez — were still productive. Osborn scored three times, and Martinez was also responsible for a run.

"We're really, really clicking in all the phases — pitching, defense and offense," Osborn said. "The bats had been trying to play catch-up all season long because our [top-ranked] pitching speaks for itself. We're putting runs on the board, and that always helps. The guys we have here are very good, and we're just doing what we do. We're in a good groove right now."

Bridgeport actually outhit the Blue Crabs, 11-10, Wednesday but stranded nine base runners. The Blue Crabs only left four on base.

Blue Crabs newcomer Craig Anderson, an Australian native, pitched his second quality outing in as many games to get his first win in a Southern Maryland uniform Wednesday, allowing three earned runs on seven hits in five innings.

In Tuesday's loss, Blue Crabs pitcher Jarrett Santos — sixth in the league with a 3.28 ERA through Wednesday — lost for the first time since May 19 after three straight wins, dropping to 4-2. He lasted 5 1/3 innings on the mound with an uncharacteristic five earned runs allowed on eight hits.

The bigger deal, though, might be Santos' health. Hobson said he may not be able to pitch in his next scheduled start Sunday in Long Island due to a biceps tendon strain in Tuesday's game.

"We'll go with [Connor] Robertson on three days rest if we have to," Hobson said.

Former major league slugger Wily Mo Pena feasted on Blue Crabs pitching Tuesday and Wednesday with homers in each game while going a combined 4 for 7 at the plate.

"Bridgeport is very good offensively," Hobson said Wednesday. "We've got to get this game tomorrow night."

dcogle@somdnews.com

Atlantic League standings

(Standings through Wednesday)

Liberty Division W L Pct. GB Streak Last 10

Camden 28 22 .560 ---- L-3 6-4

Southern Maryland 28 23 .549 0.5 W-1 6-4

Long Island 28 23 .549 0.5 L-1 5-5

Bridgeport 23 28 .451 5.5 L-1 5-5

Freedom Division W L Pct. GB Streak Last 10

York 30 22 .577 ---- W-3 7-3

Somerset 28 24 .538 2.0 W-1 4-6

Lancaster 22 29 .431 7.5 W-4 6-4

Newark 18 34 .346 12.0 L-4 2-8

Tuesday

Bridgeport 5, Blue Crabs 1

Blue Crabs 000 100 000 — 1 4 0

Bridgeport 000 221 00x — 5 10 0

WP Ryan (2-1), LP Santos (4-2)

Extra-base hits: 2B — Garcia (BC), Lopez (BC), Jiannetti (B);

HR — Pena (B, 3), Roberson (B, 2)

Wednesday

Blue Crabs 11, Bridgeport 4

Blue Crabs 400 030 400 — 11 10 2

Bridgeport 020 011 000 — 4 11 0

WP Anderson (1-0), LP Arroyo (0-1)

Extra-base hits: 2B — Craig (BC), Crozier (BC), Moss (B), Rodriguez (B); HR — Owens 2 (BC, 8), Pena (B, 4)