LAKELAND, Fla. (April 27, 2019) - The Stone Crabs took advantage of four Lakeland errors and got a gutsy six-out save from Mikey York to beat the Flying Tigers 5-3 and claim the series Saturday at Publix Field.With Charlotte (10-13) leading 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Brady Policelli
LAKELAND, Fla. (April 27, 2019) - The Stone Crabs took advantage of four Lakeland errors and got a gutsy six-out save from Mikey York to beat the Flying Tigers 5-3 and claim the series Saturday at Publix Field.
With Charlotte (10-13) leading 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Brady Policelli and Brock Deatherage both lined hits against Stone Crabs right-hander Benton Moss (1-0) to put runners at second and third. York entered and immediately walked Kody Clemens to load the bases with nobody out. That's when York bared down, getting two strikeouts and a pop out to preserve the 5-3 lead. He worked a perfect ninth inning to seal his second save.
The Stone Crabs fell behind early but battled back to score in three consecutive innings.
In a scoreless game in the fourth, Policelli cranked a solo home run to deep left to give the Flying Tigers a 1-0 lead.
With Charlotte trailing 1-0 in the top of the sixth, Jim Haley drew a two-out walk. Moises Gomez then lined an RBI double to the right field corner to chase home Haley and tie the game 1-1. The next batter was Zach Rutherford , who reached on a throwing error by A.J. Simcox. Simcox' throw eluded Lakeland (9-12) first baseman Zac Shepherd, allowing Gomez to score and give Charlotte a 2-1 lead. After a pitching change, Thomas Milone ripped an RBI triple to center to make it 3-1 Crabs.
Moss then allowed two runs to score in bottom of the inning on four hits and a throwing error.
With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the seventh, Vidal Brujan reached on an error by Tigers shortstop Jordy Mercer. Brujan then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. Carl Chester followed with a sacrifice fly to deep center to score Brujan and give Charlotte a 4-3 lead.
The Stone Crabs tacked on another run in the eighth on a Shepherd error. Four of the five runs that Lakeland allowed Saturday were unearned.
With the series already in hand, the Stone Crabs will look to sweep Lakeland at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Tobias Myers (0-1, 4.41) returns to his hometown to make the start for Charlotte. Coverage begins at 12:45 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.
