FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Miracle Rally to Defeat Stone Crabs 6-5

April 16, 2014 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (April 16, 2014) - For prolonged stretches on Wednesday, the Stone Crabs were simply the better team in the deciding game of their three game series with the Miracle. Less than 24 hours prior, it was Charlotte who had rallied back from a 4-2, eighth inning deficit to win it 6-4 for their first win by more than a single run. The roles were soon reversed for the matinee, with the Miracle coming back from their own 4-2, eighth inning deficit to hang on for a 6-5 victory at Charlotte Sports Park. With the teams not meeting again until June 10, Fort Myers can enjoy a 5-1 edge in the series for the time being.

The first inning has proved to be the Stone Crabs best as they approach the second full week of the season. Despite being completely overmatched by Miracle starter Tyler Duffey at Hammond Stadium six days ago, the righthander did not have the same luck this time around. A two out rally in the first inning started by Tommy Coyle's single led to a walk by Patrick Leonard. Kes Carter, Tuesday night's superhero, lined the very first pitch into right field to score Coyle for a 1-0 lead.

Later in the second, the bottom of the order came through starting with Maxx Tissenbaum's one out single. Tyler Goeddel then hit a deep drive to left, which puzzled Travis Harrison after the ball got caught up in the wind. The Miracle left fielder lost his footing on the warning track, and Goeddel's RBI triple made it 2-0. Max Kepler's leadoff triple to start the visiting fourth was cashed in on Adam Brett Walker's groundout to second, which cut the deficit in half to 2-1. In the fifth, a four pitch walk by Reinaldo Lopez put John Murphy at first for catcher Jairo Rodriguez, who drove in his first run of the year with a double down the right field line to tie the score.

In one of their fastest strikes of the season, the Stone Crabs retaliated against Duffey with three straight base hits in the bottom of the fifth, with Leonard's double and Carter's second RBI single making it 3-2. Two batters later, Josh Sale had his second single, which he lined into left field to score Leonard for a 4-2 lead. After Jose Molina worked a scoreless seventh in relief of Lopez, the lefty returned to the hill for the fateful eighth.

Molina (0-1) got the first two outs in order before losing a footrace at first base to Kepler, who squibbed a weak grounder to the right side of the infielder before beating the throw. The play would soon prove to be costly for the Stone Crabs after Walker's RBI double off the top of the center field fence made it 4-3. Ryan Garton later entered from the pen after Lopez drilled Mike Gonzales with a fastball on the first pitch of the at bat. Harrison then tied the game with an RBI single before Murphy's two-run single completed the comeback to give Fort Myers a 6-4 lead.

Charlotte's final two innings didn't come without drama and plentiful opportunities to score the tying run. Tissenbaum opened the eighth with a double off Brian Gilbert that hopped over the fence down the left field line. After Goeddel grounded out, Toles rocketed a triple to the left field wall for his first RBI of the season to get the Stone Crabs within a run. But Gilbert honed in after a walk to Leonardo Reginatto by fanning Coyle and inducing a flyout off the bat of Leonard to end the frame. The ninth started with a single by Carter, who stole second base by sliding headfirst around the attempted tag by shortstop A.J. Pettersen. A couple of groundouts moved him to third, and after walking Tissenbaum to put the winning run at first, Gilbert converted his second save against the Stone Crabs by getting Goeddel to ground out to end the game.

NOTES: The Stone Crabs finished 3-3 on the homestand and will start Thursday in Palm Beach at least four games back in the South Divisionall nine players finished with a hit en route to a season high 14they left 13 runners on base and hit just

4-for-18 with runners in scoring positionLopez fanned five across six solid innings after striking out three batters in his first two starts combinedCarter finished the series 6-for-13 with six runs batted in and now has 12 over his last seven games to tie him for third leaguewideCoyle, Sale, and Tissenbaum each finished with two hitsthe Stone Crabs are now 0-7 when trailing after the eighth.

Charlotte returns to the road Thursday night at 6:35 PM for the start of a three-game series against the Cardinals. Bruedlin Suero (0-1, 8.22 ERA) will make his second start of the season against Joe Cuda (0-1, 9.00 ERA). You can follow all the action by listening to the game on www.stonecrabsbaseball.com via TuneIn Radio, or tuning into 91.7 FM-WVIJ in the Port Charlotte area. The Stone Crabs Pregame Show starts at 6:15 PM on the Stone Crabs Radio Network!

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