FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Moss Dominates, Crabs Overcome Miracle

May 1, 2016 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL - Benton Moss, welcome to the club.

The 2015 6th rounder became the third Stone Crabs starter to go seven innings this year, absolutely dominating in every sense of the term, as Charlotte snapped its run of shutouts against Fort Myers and beat the Miracle, 2-1, in front of 3,476 raucous fans on Saturday night at Charlotte Sports Park.

Moss (1-1) was exceptional, commanding his fastball brilliantly and breaking out his wicked curveball later in the proceedings. The right-hander out of UNC fanned seven over his seven frames, throwing just 90 pitches. A fourth inning home run by Alex Real was his only blemish. Moss did not walk a batter for the third straight outing, and has a 20/1 K/BB ratio on the year.

Kyle Bird relieved Moss in the eighth, and flashed a brutal cutting fastball in the mid-90s as he swiftly put the game to bed. Bird struck out the side in the eighth and rung up two more in the ninth for his second save of the year. In 14 innings across eight appearances, Bird has allowed no runs and no walks, giving up just six hits while striking out 19. The lefty has showed tremendous stuff and has been found flying onto prospect watchers' radars.

All in all, Moss and Bird combined to retire the final sixteen Miracle hitters they faced. Real's home run in the fourth was the last baserunner Fort Myers had all night.

The Stone Crabs did just enough offensively to seal the deal. Nick Ciuffo and Cristian Toribio led off the second with back-to-back singles and advanced a base on a Felix Jorge wild pitch. Jorge (1-1) induced a pop-up from Jace Conrad, but a Thomas Milone grounder to short scored Ciuffo to put the Crabs ahead 1-0.

After Real's home run tied the game, Grant Kay decided to punch right back. The Stone Crabs first baseman jumped on a 1-1 fastball and hit an absolute moonshot over the Baseball Boardwalk and into the gator pond in left field to put the Stone Crabs up for good. Kay has two hits in five games against the Miracle this year-both home runs.

The rubber game of the series takes place on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park, with Stone Crabs RHP Greg Harris (2-1, 2.14) battling Miracle LHP Randy Rosario (2-1, 1.02). First pitch is scheduled for 12:35. For tickets, visit stonecrabsbaseball.com, call 941-206-HITS, or stop by the FCB Box Office anytime from 10 a.m. through the game.

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Florida State League Stories from May 1, 2016


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