Eighth inning dooms Stone Crabs in 9-4 loss

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (May 14, 2018) - The Charlotte Stone Crabs bullpen allowed nine runs in the top of the eighth Monday, as the Lakeland Flying Tigers took the series opener 9-4 at Charlotte Sports Park.
With the Stone Crabs (18-19) leading 3-0 entering the top of the eighth, Cole Bauml doubled to the right field corner against Charlotte reliever Adrian Navas (0-2). Jose Azocar then lined a single over shortstop to score Bauml and make the score 3-1. After a single and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out, the Stone Crabs brought in Brandon Koch .
Chad Sedio then pulled single to right to bring in Azocar and make it 3-2. Koch followed by walking the next two batters, forcing home two more runs to give Lakeland (16-20) a 4-3 lead. The next batter was Daniel Pinero, who dropped a single into right to make it 5-3.
After the Stone Crabs brought in Spencer Jones , a fielder's choice and two more singles brought home four additional runs to stretch the Flying Tigers' lead to 9-3.
The Stone Crabs added a run in the ninth on a Josh Lowe single to bring the final tally to 9-4.
Lowe also drove in a run with a double in the third. Jesús Sánchez plated a pair of Stone Crabs with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, building their 3-0 advantage.
Charlotte wasted an excellent start from Willy Ortiz , who allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings, striking out three and walking two.
The Stone Crabs' bullpen has gone 1-4 with an 8.18 ERA over its last six games, allowing 31 hits and 16 walks over 22 innings (2.14 WHIP).
Charlotte will look to even the series at 6:25 p.m. on Tuesday. Brock Burke (1-4, 6.89) makes the start for the Stone Crabs against Tom de Blok (2-3, 6.11) of Lakeland. Coverage starts at 6:20 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.