FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Cobb Shines in 2-0 Shutout

Published on May 17, 2014 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (May 17, 2014) - This looked all too familiar. On April 9, 2009, Alex Cobb threw the first pitch in Charlotte Stone Crabs history in a game against the Fort Myers Miracle. The score of that game doesn't really matter much now, but in the five years since, Cobb has blossomed into one of the up and coming young stars in the majors. After three strong starts to open the season in Tampa, a strained left oblique muscle sidelined him for nearly a month. When it was announced that he'd be returning to Port Charlotte for a rehab start on Saturday night against the Threshers, the ballpark was buzzing in anticipation. And the kid didn't disappoint, dominating across five scoreless innings as the Stone Crabs won their first shutout 2-0 in front of 3,583 at Charlotte Sports Park.

Cobb showed that his range was not a problem when he got over to first to cover a beautiful inning-ending 3-6-1 double play in the first. The Stone Crabs then loaded the bases with nobody out in the home half against Threshers starter Colin Kleven. Patrick Leonard's fielder's choice grounder brought in Andrew Toles to make it 1-0 and left runners at the corners for Justin O'Conner. He lifted a fly ball to right that was caught by Brian Pointer, who then gunned down Tyler Goeddel at the plate for the third out.

The Threshers have shown through the first two games of the series that they're a scrappy bunch. A leadoff double by Art Charles in the top of the second and a wild pitch by Cobb put the tying run at third base with nobody out. With full command and excellent movement on all three pitches all night, he got designated Andrew Knapp to pop out to short before fanning the next two hitters to escape the inning.

A leadoff single by second baseman KC Serna in the top of the fourth put the tying run on for the middle of the Threshers order. Pete Lavin's groundout to first pushed Serna to second, and he timed Cobb perfectly to steal third base without a throw. Cobb, an 11-game winner each of the last two seasons with the Rays, then struck out Charles and O'Conner's throw down to third was perfect to pick off Serna for the final out.

After Leonard's solo home run off Kleven with two outs in the sixth made it 2-0, the Threshers came back threatening once again in the seventh. A perfect sixth inning by Parker Markel was quickly forgotten once he loaded the bases with just one out. Although the Stone Crabs defense has been suspect at times, it was a major strength on Saturday night, and Markel ended his night with a well-turned 6-4-3 double play up the middle.

Clearwater's final chance came in the eighth against Ryan Garton, who walked his first hitter William Carmona on four pitches. A fielder's choice groundout by Angelo Mora and a strikeout of Pointer preceded a double to left by Serna, which placed the tying runs in scoring position for Lavin. Garton got a groundball to first, and hustled to the bag to take the flip from Leonard to retire the side. In the ninth, the Trinity, Florida native picked up his first save to snap the Stone Crabs three-game losing streak and get them a split in the first two games of the series.

NOTES: Cobb (1-0) matched Reinaldo Lopez' team-leading nine strikeouts in a single start in five frames, although Lopez did it in 6.1 innings against the Marauders on April 22Cobb made 23 starts with the Stone Crabs in that inaugural 2009 season, finishing the year 8-5 with a 3.03 ERAthe Stone Crabs have been outscored 20-5 in losing three of their last four gamesboth teams have loaded the bases in each of the first two games, and neither side has a hit yetthe Stone Crabs were outhit 6-5, although seven of the nine starters reached basethe Threshers finished 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, while the Stone Crabs finished 0-for-3Leonard's seventh home run gave him his team-leading seventh two-RBI gameit also gave Charlotte their seventh home run at Charlotte Sports Park and seventh solo shot of the year.

The series continues Sunday afternoon at 1:30 PM when Austin Pruitt (2-1, 6.00 ERA) takes on the Threshers Brody Colvin (0-2, 8.44 ERA). All dogs get in free on Family Fun Sunday Presented by The Charlotte Sun. Fans will also be able to receive autographs from Stone Crabs players upon entrance, play catch on the field, and kids can run the bases after the game! There are still great seats 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 17, 2014


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