FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Stone Crabs Halt Losing Streak at Six

Published on April 11, 2014 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL - The first big inning arrived a few nights earlier in Fort Myers, but at that point, it was too little too late after the Miracle held an 8-0 lead through three innings. This time around, however, it was Charlotte who struck first as they returned home for the start of a six game homestand following a six game losing streak. Despite a late push from Palm Beach, the Stone Crabs six run first inning held up for a 6-5 victory in front of 2,569 at Charlotte Sports Park on Friday night.

For the second night in a row, the offense pounced on the opposing starter in the first inning. A pair of singles from Andrew Toles and Leonardo Reginatto preceded an RBI single by Tommy Coyle to put Charlotte ahead 1-0 three batters in. Cardinals starter Joe Cuda sandwiched a Josh Sale walk in between a pair of popouts, and the Stone Crabs had the bases loaded for the first time in 2014. Maxx Tissenbaum then popped a two run double before Kes Carter's two run triple made it 5-0. Tyler Goeddel's RBI single put the finishing touches on the frame.

The Cardinals then showed why no advantage will be safe when these teams meet 17 more times. Reinaldo Lopez opened the second inning by surrendering a hard double down the right field line off the bat of first baseman David Washington. Anthony Garcia then made it 6-2 with his second home run in as many nights to pump some like back into the birds. Following a walk to Starlin Rodriguez, Lopez allowed a pair of base hits to shorstop Alex Mejia and third baseman Ildemaro Vargas to bring in another run.

Lopez felt more pressure in the top of the third after a leadoff walk to Jacob Wilson. Washington then sent a hard grounder to first baseman Patrick Leonard, who fielded it cleanly before throwing it away into left field when trying to get the force out. With runners at the corners and nobody out, Garcia brought in another run with a groundout that narrowed the gap to 6-4.

After stranding two runners in both the third and fourth, the Stone Crabs went down in order against Corey Baker in the fifth. The rest of the evening then belonged to Marcus Jensen, who came on in relief of Lopez in the sixth. The Cards made some noise with two outs after Jensen hit Mejia with an 0-2 fastball. A wild pitch moved him to second, and he soon scored on Vargas' RBI single to make it 6-5. Jensen ended the inning by striking out the leadoff hitter Charlie Tilson, which started a stretch of nine of the next 10 Cardinals being retired. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Jensen complicated his evening further by walking Breyvic Valera. Wilson then lined a single into left, and Josh Sale came up throwing to third to try and the game, only to skip it past the bag to put runners at second and third. Jared Sandberg called for Jensen to intentionally walk Washington to load the bases for Garcia. In the tensest moment of the year thus far, Jensen prevailed and earned the four inning save by getting Garcia to fly out to Andrew Toles in center to end the game and the losing streak.

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Florida State League Stories from April 11, 2014


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