Late homer sinks Stone Crabs 8-7

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (August 6, 2019) - The Stone Crabs racked up 16 hits Tuesday, but a Rodolfo Castro home run helped Bradenton stun Charlotte 8-7 at Charlotte Sports Park.
After falling 2-1 in the completion of a suspended game earlier in the day, the Stone Crabs' (66-46, 31-15) bats came alive against Bradenton (62-49, 26-19) in Game 2.
Charlotte right fielder Izzy Wilson led the onslaught with four hits, while Kaleo Johnson and Garrett Whitley each reached base three times.
Despite the hits, the Stone Crabs stranded 12 runners, tying a season high.
The game was decided in the top of the eighth. With the contest tied 6-6, Lucas Tancas drew a one-out walk against Charlotte reliever Alex Valverde (3-6). The next batter was Castro, who cranked a two-run homer out to right to give Bradenton an 8-6 lead.
The Stone Crabs pulled to within 8-7 on a Moises Gomez sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning, but stranded runners in both the eighth and ninth.
The Stone Crabs' biggest inning came in a scoreless game in the bottom of the second. Michael Smith singled with nobody out before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Jake Palomaki followed with a single to left to score Smith and make it 1-0 Charlotte. That brought up Zach Rutherford , who ripped an RBI double to left to make it 2-0. The Stone Crabs capped the rally on a Wilson single to center to score Rutherford and bring the tally to 3-0.
Charlotte tacked on singular runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but were unable to put up another crooked number.
The Stone Crabs and Marauders will wrap up the season series with a doubleheader at noon on Wednesday. Joe Ryan (7-2, 1.55) will start Game 1 for Charlotte, against Gavin Wallace (4-5, 3.83) of Bradenton. Coverage of the twin bill begins at 11:45 a.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.