FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Cardinals Send 'Crabs to Ninth Straight Loss

August 12, 2015 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (August 11, 2015) - In order to give themselves a shot at playing for the Florida State League Championship, it seems more and more likely that the Stone Crabs will have to get through the Cardinals first. It's as if the teams have switched places during the second half of the season, because remember, the 'Crabs won eight of the first nine meetings to start the season series. Although the games have gotten tighter, pitching has taken precedence, and the 'Crabs bats remained quiet in a 2-0 shutout for their ninth consecutive loss before 1,897 at Charlotte Sports Park.

Following Monday night's lengthy opener that featured four hours of game time and a two hour and three minute rain delay, the teams returned with two righthanders on the hill. The challenge for the Stone Crabs was Luke Weaver, last year's first round pick out of Florida State, who was already 2-0 against them. To make matters worse, the DeLand native had thrown six scoreless innings in both starts using an efficient mix of four pitches.

Another slow start previewed the entire evening as the visitors struck early in the first against Hunter Wood. C.J. McElroy led off with an infield single and got to third after Mike Marjama's throw skipped into center in an attempt to get McElroy stealing second. Pat Blair then stayed down on a Breyvic Valera grounder to first for the first out, but Mason Katz lined a double into right for a 1-0 Cardinals lead. Luke Voit was later hit with a pitch to put runners at the corners, but Wood snagged a soft liner off the bat of Brett Wiley to retire the side.

The home first featured a one out single for Desmond Jennings, who was playing in his first of two rehab games with the 'Crabs to to test out his surgically repaired knee. In the second, Kean Wong led off with a single into the shortstop hole, but Justin Williams bounced into a double play started by Weaver in his first at bat in the Florida State League. Palm Beach later made it 2-0 in the third once Katz took first on a dropped third strike to start the inning. He stole second and got to third on a wild pitch, and Voit continued his hot start to the month with a sacrifice fly to left for his 56th run batted in.

Bad luck followed Charlotte into the third when they loaded the bases following singles by Jace Conrad, Braxton Lee, and Andrew Velazquez at the top of the order. With the scoreless innings streak against the 'Crabs in jeopardy, Weaver went to work against Jennings and got him to lineout sharply to third. Casey Turgeon stabbed the hot shot and ran right to the bag to double up Conrad and completely evaporate the momentum. With the tying runs still on base, Willy Adames flied out to shallow right for the third out.

With both offenses stuck in the mud, Weaver (6-5) went seven in his second longest start of the season while retiring 13 of the last 15 hitters he faced without allowing a hit. The Cardinals didn't fare much better against Jordan Harrison, who took over for Wood (1-2) in the fifth in his return from the Bowling Green Hot Rods. The lefthander put the first two batters on, but proceeded to retire eight straight to end his night. Facing lefthander Tyler Melling in the ninth, a two out rally started when Marjama and Wong walked to put the tying runs on base for Williams. Less than 24 hours after suffering his first blown save in the opener, Robby Rowland came in and deflected a hard bouncer out to short where Valera threw across just in time to give Palm Beach the shutout.

The Stone Crabs will try to avoid a 10-game losing streak when Buddy Borden (8-5, 2.68 ERA) looks to right the ship against Blake McKnight (1-0, 2.00 ERA). Tickets are still available for the final game of the six game homestand, 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 August 12, 2015


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