Revs drop a second-straight game at Southern Maryland

June 01--The York Revolution came back from four runs down to draw even, but could not pull out a victory falling 8-5 to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Saturday evening in front of 6,554 fans at Regency Furniture Stadium.

The Revs have lost back-to-back games in Waldorf, slipping one game back into second place as they'll try to avoid a sweep on Sunday afternoon.

Southern Maryland stormed out to a 4-0 first inning lead, putting the Revs in a big hole immediately. Jake Opitz ripped a three-run triple down the right field line to open the scoring, and another run crossed on an error in the first inning as the Blue Crabs grabbed the big lead.

Southern Maryland starter Gaby Hernandez dominated early, allowing no hits through the first four innings and striking out six of seven batters faced at one point.

The Revs got the offense going in the fifth as Johan Limonta led off with a double to right-center and Alberto Espinosa, opting to bat left handed for the first time this season, kept the inning alive with a two-out single to left. Sean Smith then blasted a three-run homer to left bringing the Revs within 4-3. It was Smith's fourth home run of the year and second in his last three games.

York starter Jorge Martinez settled down, allowing just one hit from the second through the fourth innings. Southern Maryland did plate one more against the righty on a two-out single to left by C.J. Ziegler in the fifth, getting one run back as their lead grew to 5-3.

The Revs tied the game at 5-5 by scoring twice in the sixth. Chad Tracy stroked an RBI single to left and Ofilio Castro drove a sacrifice fly to right field to knot things up. The sac fly was the first of 11 consecutive hitters retired by Blue Crab relievers to end the game, however, as the tie score was short lived.

The Blue Crabs came right back to retake the lead in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out single up the middle by newly signed outfielder Jonny Kaplan. Batting ninth, Kaplan added a two-run single to left with two outs in the eighth to provide the insurance.

Eduardo Morlan (1-0), one of five relievers used by the Blue Crabs, earned the win, while York lefty Edward Paredes (0-2) was tagged with the loss. Jim Ed Warden picked up his seventh save of the year and added to his all-time Atlantic League lead with his 124th career save for Southern Maryland with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Notes: The four-run first is the biggest first inning allowed by the Revs since a seven-run first inning against Lancaster on April 29... Johan Limonta previously had all four of York's home runs of three runs or more before Smith's three-run shot... the home run was York's ninth in the last 10 games... Limonta (2-for-4) was held without an RBI, finishing May with 32 RBI on the month which tied a Revs' single-month record (Chris Ashby, July 2008)... the Revs finish May with a 17-14 record, matching last year's team for most wins in May in Revs history... Justin Greene (0-for-4) had a seven-game hitting streak snapped; he batted .519 (14-for-27) on the streak... the Revs have lost a series and back-to-back games for the first time since May 10-11, also vs. Southern Maryland... the Revs fall to 1-4 against the Blue Crabs having lost four straight head-to-head... it is their only opponent against which they have a sub-.500 record this season... York had gone 12-5 in its last 17 contests at Regency Furniture Stadium before losing the first two this weekend... the Revs have been held to just five hits in each of the first two games... all five on Saturday night were totaled between the fifth and sixth innings... the Blue Crabs have won three straight overall... York's bullpen entered the series with a 0.66 ERA over the previous 15 games, but has been charged with five runs in the two games and losses both nights... York's five-series unbeaten streak is snapped; the Revs had four series wins and a split over the previous five series... the Revs stole two bases, both by Wilson Valdez, taking over the league lead with 48 steals on the season, and already surpassing their total of 47 from all of last year... the Revs will send Corey Thurman (1-1, 4.77) to the mound on Sunday, facing Ian Marshall (2-3, 4.82) with first pitch at 2:05 p.m.

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