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Charlotte Stone Crabs

Stone Crabs Playoff Hopes Disappear in 5-2 Loss

August 27, 2014 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (August 27, 2014) - The Stone Crabs wild ride in 2014 saw them reach the very bottom during the course of a particularly brutal stretch in which they lost 14 out of 15. However, there's no denying that over the last five weeks, there may not have been a hotter team in the Florida State League. Jared Sandberg's group was lifted by the arrival of several players from Bowling Green, essentially coming back from the dead to heighten the intensity of the second half race in the South Division. Yet it all came crashing down on Tuesday night at Tradition Field when the Mets came back from 2-0 down in the seventh for a 5-2 win to split the first two games of the series.

In a rematch of last Wednesday's 6-2 Mets win at Charlotte Sports Park, Austin Pruitt and Matthew Koch looked like a couple of aces. After both sides went in order in the first, Koch once again had issues in the second. Patrick Leonard's leadoff infield single was knocked down on the grass in center by second baseman L.J. Mazzilli, but his throw to first wasn't in time. Tyler Goeddel went ahead and rocked his 25th double to left to put runners at second and third with nobody out. The next pitch to Marty Gantt was slashed into right field for a 1-0 lead before Jonathan Quionez made it 2-0 with a fielder's choice groundout.

With Koch over his one bad inning, Pruitt looked like the star of the staff who had won six straight starts from July 5-August 1. The righthander was winless in his previous three starts, but was in full command thanks to a nasty changeup that helped him rack up six strikeouts through six. Even more impressive is that Pruitt got himself into just three two-ball counts during that stretch while holding the Mets to just four base hits.

St. Lucie finally came alive in the seventh when Cam Maron and Jared King put the tying runs on base with a pair of singles through the right side. A strikeout of Phillip Evans after a lengthy battle led to another single off the bat of Cole Frenzel that loaded the bases with one out. In Monday night's game, the Mets hit into two double plays with the bases loaded en route to an 8-5 Stone Crabs win. This time, however, Eudy Pina ambushed Pruitt by launching the first pitch to the wall in left for a bases clearing double that gave the Mets their first lead at 3-2. With Pruitt (9-6) gone, Jordan Harrison surrendered a single to third baseman Jeff McNeil that doubled the lead at 4-2.

Koch (9-4) gave Charlotte next to nothing across seven and two thirds as he finished with a season-high eight strikeouts in his longest start of the season. David DeJesus returned to the Stone Crabs lineup to continue his rehab assignment but finished 0-for-5 as the left fielder batting second. Johnny Field, who hit the game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning of Monday night's victory, added a single in the seventh to carry his hitting streak to 14 straight. The only other noteworthy performance belonged to catcher Jake DePew, who knocked three singles in his first three-hit game this season.

The Stone Crabs and Mets meet for the final time on Wednesday night at 6:30 PM when Blake Snell (5-6, 4.02 ERA) duels with Luis Cessa (6-8, 4.25 ERA). You can follow all the action by listening to the game on www.stonecrabsbaseball.com via TuneIn Radio, or tuning into 91.7 FM-WVIJ in the Port Charlotte area. The Stone Crabs Pregame Show starts at 6:10 PM on the Stone Crabs Radio Network!

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