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Charlotte Stone Crabs

Threshers Clobber 'Crabs 12-2

June 30, 2015 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (June 30, 2015) - The Threshers did a lot to further legitimize their stunning first half comeback these last four days in Port Charlotte. Although the Tortugas collapse factored heavily into the Threshers turnaround, this is also a team that's peaking right now. By taking two of the first three from the Stone Crabs, they made Charlotte Sports Park not look as intimidating as it once did. And Tuesday night's regular season finale between the two teams wasn't much prettier after the sixth inning. Clearwater sent 14 batters to the plate and scored 11 runs on eight hits to bury the 'Crabs early and send them to their 10th loss in the last 12.

With John Jaso and James Loney at the top of the order, the other big name penciled into the lineup for manager Michael Johns was Andrew Bellatti. Working his way back from right shoulder tendinitis, the 2013 Stone Crabs alum needed just five pitches to breeze through the first. In the second, Rhys Hoskins led off with a double on a payoff pitch. Bellatti then helped himself out when Aaron Brown sent a bouncer back to the mound, which resulted in a rundown that got Hoskins caught for the second out. Angelo Mora then flied out to left, and Bellatti was done after just 16 pitches, including 12 strikes.

Despite a win against Threshers starter David Whitehead in the first meeting between the teams on May 12, the Stone Crabs couldn't generate anything after Kean Wong and Armando Araiza picked up infield singles in the second. With Braxton Lee batting, both runners and took off and catcher Chace Numata made a perfect throw to nab Wong at third for the final out. Whitehead then retired the next 14 of the next 15 hitters he faced, going seven for just the second time in his career. What made it so incredible is that he only threw 66 pitches, 46 of them for strikes.

Devin Lohman opened the scoring against FSL Pitcher of the Week Chris Kirsch with a leadoff home run in the third for his first longball of the year. Kirsch then settled into a nice rhythm and retired nine straight through the end of the fifth. Number nine hitter Chase Harris led off the sixth with a single and Malquin Canelo followed with his second base hit. Carlos Tocci got hit with Kirsch's first pitch, and the bases were loaded with nobody out for the ever-dangerous Andrew Pullin.

The designated hitter's five runs batted in during the first three games of the series got a boost when he reached on a fielder's choice groundout that scored Harris to make it 2-0. A walk to Rhys Hoskins reloaded the bases, and prompted three straiht RBI singles by Numata, Aaron Brown, and Mora to make it 5-0. Kirsch (4-4) came out after just three and a third innings, and the madness continued when Lohman and Harris brought in two more runs with singles off Eduar Quinonez. Canelo's sacrifice fly to left gave the Threshers an 8-0 lead, and Tocci's bouncer to short resulted in a throwing error from Pat Blair that kept the inning going for Pullin with two outs. He took the second pitch over the wall in right for his second grand slam and a total of five runs batted in during the inning to make it 12-0. Charlotte's only runs came on a two-run home run from Mike Marjama in the eighth, but that was all they'd get as they dropped their fourth consecutive series to finish June with a 13-13 record.

The Stone Crabs will head to Bradenton for a three-game series starting Wednesday night at 6:30 PM at McKechnie Field. Charlotte will get another rehab start when Jake Odorizzi makes the trip to take on the Marauders Frank Duncan (4-3, 5.40 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 6:45 PM on the Stone Crabs Radio Network!

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