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FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

'Crabs Swept in Palm Beach

August 6, 2015 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


JUPITER, FL (August 6, 2015) - There's a very good chance the Stone Crabs and Cardinals meet in the opening round of the Florida State League playoffs. With Charlotte having already clinched the first half in the South Division, Palm Beach has pitched its way to the top in the second half. In a tightly contested series, the Cardinals found a way to win games one and three by a single run. The finale nearly turned when Granden Goetzman's two run home run put the 'Crabs in front, but it wasn't enough as the Cardinals won 4-3 to win five of the last six in the season series.

The first inning was quite eventful as Andrew Velazquez opened the game with a single before moving to second on Kean Wong's sacrifice bunt. Mike Marjama went the other way and lined a two out single into right, and Blake Drake's great defensive series continued with a perfect strike to the plate to nab Velazquez for the final out.

Hunter Wood showed once again that he's nearly unflappable, because all four hits he allowed across five innings came in the first. Casey Turgeon got on with a one out double into left center, only to score on Collin Radack's rope of a double into right center. One more run came in on Luke Voit's single into right center giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead, as the first baseman collected his sixth run batted in of the series.

Blake McKnight went five in his first start of the season, allowing just one more hit the rest of the way after Goetzman smoked a double down the left field line with two outs in the fourth. Marty Gantt then grounded out to Robelys Reyes at short, whose busy night continued when he fielded all three groundballs from the bottom third of the order in the fifth.

After Wood ended his night by retiring six straight, the battle of the bullpens began when lefthander Lee Stoppelman took the hill for the Cardinals in the sixth. Wong smacked a one out single up the middle, and was gifted with consecutive wild pitches from the southpaw to advance to third. A walk to Willy Adames put the tying runs at the corners for Mike Marjama, who blooped a single over third for his 40th run batted in to snap a stretch of nearly 20 scoreless innings for Cardinals pitching. When Adames slipped off third base on the throw back in and was tagged out, Goetzman came up and roped his third home run to left off righthander Keith Butler to put Charlotte ahead 3-2.

Palm Beach's comeback started in the seventh after Kyle McKenzie threw a perfect first inning of relief in the sixth. Mason Katz's second hit was a leadoff double into left center to put the tying run at second, and a wild pitch from McKenzie (5-4) advanced him to third. Carson Kelly rolled the 2-1 offering to second with the infield back up the middle to tie the score at three and hand Wood a no decision. In the eighth, CJ McElroy opened the frame by serving a double down the left field line. Turgeon's sacrifice bunt pushed the go-ahead run to third, and prompted the 'Crabs to summon Eduar Quinonez from the bullpen. Brett Wiley sent a high chopper in between the mound and the plate, but Quinonez threw it away from Armando Araiza and the run scored. The ninth belonged to Josh Lucas, who earned his fifth save with a 1-2-3 inning that featured a pair of strikeouts as the Cardinals improved to 45-0 when leading after the eighth.

The Stone Crabs are back at Charlotte Sports Park on Friday, August 7 at 7:00 PM to begin a six-game homestand with three against the Bradenton Marauders. When gates open, enjoy FREE draft beer at the Tiki Bar until the end of the 1st inning with the purchase of a SPECIAL $15 ticket! 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 August 6, 2015


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