PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (June 20, 2017) - The Charlotte Stone Crabs got the tying run into scoring position with nobody out in the ninth inning but couldn't come through in a 4-3 loss to the Palm Beach Cardinals Tuesday at Charlotte Sports Park.Down by two runs entering the bottom of
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (June 20, 2017) - The Charlotte Stone Crabs got the tying run into scoring position with nobody out in the ninth inning but couldn't come through in a 4-3 loss to the Palm Beach Cardinals Tuesday at Charlotte Sports Park.
Down by two runs entering the bottom of the ninth, Stone Crabs (30-37) first baseman Dalton Kelly drew a walk to start the inning. David Rodríguez then singled to right before the runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Jim Haley then drove in Kelly with a groundout to make the score 4-3. With one out and the tying run at third, Palm Beach (40-26) turned to reliever Jacob Evans. Evans then struck out Brandon Lowe and Thomas Milone to strand the runner at third and notch his first save.
Charlotte wasted an outstanding start from lefty Génesis Cabrera . The Dominican Republic native allowed only one run on four hits over six innings. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter. Cabrera has posted a 1.67 ERA over his last 11 games (ten starts) and has allowed one earned run or less in eight of them.
Palm Beach got their one run on Cabrera early. Randy Arozarena doubled to begin the game before advancing to third on a two-out single from Chris Chinea. Blake Drake followed by pulling a base hit into left to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Still down one in the bottom of the third, Stone Crabs shortstop Jake Cronenworth singled to left with two outs. Peter Maris then stroked an RBI double to the gap to tie the game at one.
Leading off the bottom of the fourth, Charlotte catcher Brett Sullivan clubbed his third home run of the season to give Charlotte a 2-1 lead.
Stone Crabs reliever Drew Smith worked a scoreless seventh before Brandon Lawson (1-2) ran into trouble in the eighth. With Palm Beach down one, Arozarena tripled to the right field corner with one out. Tommy Edman then dropped a single into center to tie the game at two. The next batter was Andy Young, who launched a two-run home run to left to give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead.
The Stone Crabs will go for the series split Wednesday morning at 10:05 a.m. Eduar Lopez (5-5, 3.74) makes the start for Charlotte against Junior Fernandez (3-2, 3.88) of Palm Beach. Coverage begins at 9:50 a.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.
