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FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Yanks Escape with 6-4 Win

July 16, 2015 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


TAMPA BAY, FL (July 15, 2015) - It seemed like the Stone Crabs were still on vacation for the first eight innings at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday night. Part of the problem was Yankees starter Gabriel Encinas, who was spectacular across seven innings in which he allowed just two hits and a walk. But the Tampa bats also showed up, and probably could have made things worse had they brought in more of the 13 runners left on base. In the ninth, the Stone Crabs put the tying runs on base but Alex Smith came in for the save as the Yanks escaped with a 6-4 win in the opening game of the series.

The game started in a 48 minute rain delay before the Yanks came out fresh in the first against Taylor Guerrieri. After getting two quick outs, the righthander walked rehabber Carlos Beltran before Dustin Fowler blooped a single into left center. Mike Ford then worked the count full and pulled a single into right to give Tampa an early 1-0 lead to set the tone.

In the third, Beltran led off with a hard line single into right center and took second on a wild pitch. Fowler's groundout to second sent Ford to the plate, and the first baseman brought in his second run with a sacrifice fly to center. Once again, Guerrieri got two quick outs in the fourth on just five pitches. Abiatal Avelino worked a walk on a 3-2 pitch and advanced on an errant pickoff attempt from Guerrieri. Beltran's final at bat resulted in a hard line drive into left center that appeared to get lost in the lights before glancing off Marty Gantt for a base hit and a 3-0 Yankees lead.

Charlotte's only base hit in the first four innings was a one out double by Willy Adames to the left field wall. They'd finally get on the board when Gantt blasted the first pitch from Encinas for a leadoff home run in the fifth that made it 3-1. For Gantt, it was his first home run since May 12, but the Yankees came right back against Kyle McKenzie in the bottom of the inning.

Ford led off with his second single before taking second on a wild pitch. Andujar then flied out to center and Ford tagged to third as Jake Skole drew a walk to put runners at the corners. Kyle Higashioka pulled a single into left for a 4-1 lead, and a double steal resulted in a throwing error from catcher Armando Araiza that was kicked into the third base dugout by a sliding Skole. With another run in, Tyler Wade's run scoring single put the finishing touches on a three run inning that saw the Yankees lead balloon to 6-1.

Down to their last three outs in the ninth, Andrew Velazquez led off at the top of the order with an infield single. After Luis Niebla struck out Kean Wong, Velazquez got to second on a wild pitch. Adames brought in the second run of the night with a bloop single into left, and Mike Marjama followed with a base hit into right. A wild pitch pushed the runners into scoring position, and allowed Conrad to bring in another run on a grounder to third that Andujar skipped on the throw across. Smith came in for his seventh save, and struck out Gantt before juggling a liner off Araiza's bat for an infield single that scored Marjama and made it 6-4. Granden Goetzman pinch ran for Araiza as the tying run, and got to second after he and Conrad successfully completed a double steal. However, the comeback fell just short and the game ended when Yoel Araujo grounded out to third to end the game.

The series continues on Thursday night at 7:00 PM when German Marquez (4-8, 3.36 ERA) goes up against Cale Coshow (4-2, 2.49 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 6:40 PM on the Stone Crabs Radio Network!

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