DAYTONA, Fla. (August 13, 2019) - Ronaldo Hernandez matched a career high with five RBI and delivered his eighth home run of the year Tuesday, leading the Stone Crabs to a 13-2 win over the Daytona Tortugas at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.The Charlotte (74-46, 39-15) win is their second most lopsided
DAYTONA, Fla. (August 13, 2019) - Ronaldo Hernandez matched a career high with five RBI and delivered his eighth home run of the year Tuesday, leading the Stone Crabs to a 13-2 win over the Daytona Tortugas at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
The Charlotte (74-46, 39-15) win is their second most lopsided victory of the season, extending their winning streak to eight games.
Hernandez swatted a three-run home run in the seventh inning, also driving in runs with a walk and a single. Tuesday marked his first five RBI game since June 1, 2018.
The game remained scoreless until the top of the fifth. After Michael Smith singled to left to start the inning, Zach Rutherford drove a double down the right field line to move Smith to third. The next batter was Garrett Whitley , who crushed a two-run triple to the wall in center to make it 2-0 Stone Crabs.
Zac Law followed with an RBI single up the middle to plate Whitley and extend the lead to 3-0. Daytona starter Austin Orewiler (7-9) then lost the zone. He hit Jake Palomaki with a pitch before walking Wander Franco and Hernandez to make it 4-0. With the bases loaded, Moises Gomez singled to left. After Palomaki scored, Drew Mount fired a throw to the plate which hit Franco and caromed into foul territory. The loose ball then allowed Hernandez to score and cap the rally at 7-0.
After the Stone Crabs extended the lead to 10-0 on the Hernandez home run in the seventh, the first two men reached in the top of the eighth. That brought up Joey Roach , who cranked an RBI double to the wall in center to make it 11-1. A wild pitch made it 12-1 before Hernandez plated Roach on a single to end a long night of Charlotte scoring.
Stone Crabs starter Cristopher Sanchez (1-0) went five scoreless innings to earn his first High-A win. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter. Cristofer Ogando went two innings in his Florida State League debut.
The Stone Crabs will look to extend their winning streak to nine games at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday. Stephen Woods Jr. (9-2, 2.12) makes the start for Charlotte, against Jared Solomon (0-7, 4.89) of the Tortugas. Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.
