FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 5, 2019) - The Stone Crabs battled back to tie the game twice, but the Fort Myers Miracle scored the winning run in the eighth to beat Charlotte 4-3 at Hammond Stadium Friday.With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Miracle (2-0) shortstop
FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 5, 2019) - The Stone Crabs battled back to tie the game twice, but the Fort Myers Miracle scored the winning run in the eighth to beat Charlotte 4-3 at Hammond Stadium Friday.
With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Miracle (2-0) shortstop Royce Lewis flew a triple to center to start the inning. After a walk and infield single loaded the bases, Stone Crabs (0-2) reliever Simon Rosenblum-Larson (0-1) struck out Ryan Jeffers. With one out and the bases loaded, Rosenblum-Larson struck out Lewin Diaz, but the ball got away from Charlotte catcher Zac Law. Lewis raced home to score the go-ahead run.
Fort Myers reliever Tom Hackimer (1-0) allowed the tying run to reach second with one out in the ninth, but struck out the next two Stone Crabs to seal the win.
Charlotte got solid pitching early from right-hander Tommy Romero . The Florida native allowed just one hit over 4.1 innings, striking out two.
With the Stone Crabs trailing 1-0 in the top of the fifth, Carl Chester crushed a solo home run to left to tie the game at one.
After the Miracle plated two on a two-run double from Trevor Larnach to re-gain the lead, the Stone Crabs fought back in the eighth. Law doubled to the left field corner before Jake Palomaki lined a double to left to move Law to third. Vidal Brujan followed with a sacrifice fly to center to score Palomaki and make it 3-2. With Garrett Whitley batting, Melvi Acosta uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Palomaki to score and tie the game at three.
Despite two losses, Chester has begun the season on a tear for the Stone Crabs. The outfielder is 5-for-7 with a home run and a walk to begin the season.
The Stone Crabs will open their home slate at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday against the Miracle. Resly Linares makes his High-A debut for Charlotte against Tyler Watson of Fort Myers. Coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.
