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FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Cardinals Clip Crabs in 6-5 Thriller

August 3, 2019 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Kaleo Johnson delivered a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning Saturday, but the Palm Beach Cardinals rallied to beat the Charlotte Stone Crabs 6-5 at Charlotte Sports Park.

With the game tied 3-3 entering the bottom of the eighth, Moises Gomez singled with one out. The next batter was Johnson, who cranked a two-run homer out to left to give the Stone Crabs a 5-3 lead.

Still leading by that margin in the top of the ninth, Charlotte (66-43, 31-12) reliever Alex Valverde (3-5) allowed back-to-back singles to Scott Hurst and Dennis Ortega. That brought up Nick Dunn, who pulled a three-run homer to right to give Palm Beach the decisive 6-5 lead.

Cardinals lefty Grant Dayton (3-1) went three innings in relief to get the win. He struck out three and stranded the tying run at second in the ninth to seal the Palm Beach (49-59, 14-30) win.

The Cardinals' lead in the ninth was their first of the game after the Stone Crabs jumped in front early. In the bottom of the first, Jake Palomaki lined a single to right to start the inning. Wander Franco followed with an RBI triple to the wall in right center to make it 1-0 Charlotte. The next batter was Ronaldo Hernandez, who doubled to the wall in left to bring the margin to 2-0.

After the Cardinals tied it 2-2, Hernandez lined an RBI single to left in the fifth to give Charlotte a 3-2 lead. Palm Beach leveled things in the eighth on a Juan Yepez RBI single. Yepez finished 4-for-4 with two RBI.

Saturday marked the return of Drew Strotman, who made his return from June 2018 Tommy John surgery. Strotman went three innings for Charlotte, allowing one run on three hits in his High-A debut. Right-hander Stephen Woods Jr. allowed one earned run over 4.1 innings of relief.

The Stone Crabs will go for the series win over Palm Beach at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Jose Alvarado will rehab for Charlotte in front of usual starter Tommy Romero (9-3, 1.87). Griffin Roberts (0-6, 6.27) makes the start for Cardinals. Coverage of the game begins at 12:15 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.

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