FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Wild ninth lifts Stone Crabs to victory, 9-8 over Mets

Published on August 18, 2012 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE -- Clinging to life in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Charlotte Stone Crabs were invited back into a one-run game. A hit batsman set in motion a chain of events that sent Charlotte past the St. Lucie Mets by a 9-8 final score on Saturday at Charlotte Sports Park.

After Phil Wunderlich was hit by an 0-2 pitch from Hamilton Bennett, Steve Tinoco slapped an opposite field single that put runners on the corners. Riccio Torrez delivered a run-scoring double to tie things up, but an untimely error by Mets first baseman Richard Lucas on Cody Rogers' grounder allowed Tinoco to score the winning run in a wild ninth inning.

Though Charlotte fell behind early, the club continued to battle back against the Mets bullpen. The Stone Crabs erased a three-run deficit in the eighth inning, and rallied for two in the bottom of the ninth to earn their first series victory of the season against St. Lucie.

Charlotte manufactured a run in the first inning off Mets starter Jacob DeGrom. Robby Price opened the frame with a double and was sacrificed to third, before coming in to score on a groundout off the bat of Todd Glaesmann.

The Mets appeared to take command of the game in the fourth. Eliazer Suero held St. Lucie scoreless through the front three, but the Mets collected five runs on three hits and a pair of walks, in addition to two errors committed by the Charlotte defense in the frame.

Shortly after Jimmy Patterson entered a 5-1 game with two down in the fourth, a sudden storm caused a rain delay of 1 hour and 12 minutes.

After play resumed, the Stone Crabs began to chip away at the deficit in the home half of the fifth.

Charlotte opened the frame with four consecutive base hits off St. Lucie reliever John Church. A run-scoring groundout by Kevin Kiermaier capped the rally and pulled the Stone Crabs to within a run.

The Mets again pulled away with two runs in the sixth off T.J. Geith, but the Stone Crabs offense was far from finished.

A one-out double from Torrez started the rally in the eighth, and an error allowed Cody Rogers to reach, bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Luke Bailey.

With a pair of doubles already in the game, Bailey had six extra-base in his last 14 at-bats as he stepped to the plate against Adam Kolarek. The Charlotte catcher connected for a three-run homer over the left field wall that knotted the game at seven.

The back-and-forth theme continued as the Mets regained the lead in the top of the ninth. Lenny Linsky (1-2) walked Alonzo Harris on four pitches to start the frame. After Harris was sacrificed to second, Danny Muno singled up the middle to again put St. Lucie back in front, 8-7.

Hamilton Bennett (7-2) quickly got the first two outs in the bottom of the ninth and was a strike away from victory before hitting Wunderlich with a curveball. The Mets reliever got within a strike again before Tinoco delivered a single to right to place runners at the corners. Torrez entered the game with just one hit in his last 17 at-bats, but stroked a line drive double to left that plated Wunderlich with the game-tying run.

That set the stage for Rogers, who legged out an infield hit to plate the eventual winning run on Friday. Rogers rolled what appeared to be a routine grounder out to first, but Lucas kicked the ball and then threw high to first as Tinoco scored the winning run.

Charlotte will try for the sweep of St. Lucie as the series wraps up on Sunday. Albert Suarez (5-9) will take the mound for the Stone Crabs against Chase Huchingson (7-7) for the Mets. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m.

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Florida State League Stories from August 18, 2012


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