FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Bauers Home Run Powers 'Crabs to 2-1 Win

Published on May 1, 2015 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (May 1, 2015) - Michael Johns had recently toyed with the notion of turning Jake Bauers loose and giving him the green light in a 3-0 count. A risky endeavor, given that it's a fairly low percentage play that tends to favor the pitcher. In the first inning of Friday night's game against Fort Myers, Bauers took a 3-0 fastball out of the zone from Ethan Mildren. Later, with two outs in the fifth, MJ turned him loose and Bauers unleashed a two run home run into the Stone Crabs bullpen that propelled them to a 2-1 win in front of a crowd of 2,423 at Charlotte Sports Park.

For the third straight game, the Stone Crabs had a former player pitching on a rehab assignment. In Thursday night's 5-3 loss in Fort Myers, Enny Romero threw the first inning and two thirds before the Miracle eventually beat German Marquez for a 5-3 win. Jake McGee was back in Port Charlotte after a riveting debut on Tuesday night against the Marauders. He walked Aderling Mejia and Niko Goodrum, but got the next two outs to end his night.

The Stone Crabs left a total of three runners on base in the first two innings against Mildren, who let Juniel Querecuto and Kean Wong reach to start the third. Willy Adames then grounded into a double play, and Bauers rolled out to second to end the inning. Meanwhile, Buddy Borden (3-1) was doing a terrific job keeping the Miracle in check as he picked up a strikeout in innings two through four.

Mildren (0-3) seemed like he was headed towards an easy fifth inning after throwing just four pitches to get a pair of groundouts. Adames' at bat keyed the whole inning when he took a 3-2 breaking ball out of the zone for a walk. Bauers then got ahead in the count for the second time at 3-and-0, and the decision to swing away was huge as the first baseman clobbered his fourth home run for a 2-0 lead.

After retiring the Miracle in order during his first inning of relief in the sixth, Steve Ascher encountered some problems in the seventh. A leadoff double down the left field line by catcher Alex Swim got things started for the bottom of the order. Two batters later, Jason Kanzler lifted a fairly routine flyball to center that got lost in the lights. The ball hopped in front of Braxton Lee for a run scoring single that got the Miracle within a run at 2-1.

Miracle relievers Brandon Peterson and Brian Gilbert combined for six strikeouts over three hitless innings, giving the visitors a chance in the ninth against Brad Schreiber. The Menasha, Wisconsin native's night started with a walk to Swim to put the tying run at first. A wild pitch pushed Swim to second with no outs, and Miracle manager Jeff Smith brought in Logan Wade as a pinch runner. The pressure seemed to calm Schreiber, who struck out Chad Christensen and Kanzler to bring up Zach Granite. The left fielder guided the first pitch he saw to Adames at short, and the throw across gave Schreiber his fifth save in a 2-1 Stone Crabs victory.

The series continues at Charlotte Sports Park on Saturday, May 2 at 6:30 PM when Ryne Stanek (0-2, 2.29 ERA) goes for his first win against Ryan Eades (1-0, 1.50 ERA). Come on out for Military Appreciation Night and enjoy our second Fireworks show of the year! Tickets are still available, so visit www.stonecrabsbaseball.com or call 941-206-HITS (4487) to order your tickets now!

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Florida State League Stories from May 1, 2015


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