CLEARWATER, Fla. (June 5, 2017) - Brett Sullivan and Angel Moreno each provided the key hit in the Stone Crabs' doubleheader sweep of the Clearwater Threshers Monday night at Spectrum Field.In Game 1, the Stone Crabs (27-28) and Threshers (32-26) entered the seventh and final inning in a scoreless tie.
CLEARWATER, Fla. (June 5, 2017) - Brett Sullivan and Angel Moreno each provided the key hit in the Stone Crabs' doubleheader sweep of the Clearwater Threshers Monday night at Spectrum Field.
In Game 1, the Stone Crabs (27-28) and Threshers (32-26) entered the seventh and final inning in a scoreless tie. After Dalton Kelly walked to start the inning against Clearwater reliever Tyler Gilbert (0-2), Peter Maris bunted him to second. A groundout then moved Kelly to third with two outs. Charlotte then summoned Sullivan to pinch hit. Sullivan pulled a single into right to score Kelly and give the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead.
The pitching trio of Brad Boxberger, Eduar Lopez (4-5) and Drew Smith combined on a one-hit shutout of the Threshers. Boxberger struck out the side in order in the first before Lopez worked five innings while allowing only one hit. Smith worked a perfect seventh to earn his fourth save.
In Game 2, the game remained scoreless until the sixth inning. Charlotte outfielder Ryan Boldt reached on an error before Maris bunted him to second. Two batters later, Kelly tripled to left to score Boldt and give the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. David Rodríguez then hammered a double to right to plate Kelly and extend the lead to 2-0.
After Clearwater loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning, Jan Hernandez singled up the middle to tie the game at two.
Each team's bullpen then traded zeroes until the top of the twelfth inning. Leading off the inning with the game tied at two, Moreno shot a triple into the right field corner against Clearwater righty Luke Leftwich (0-3). The relay throw from Threshers second baseman Drew Stankiewicz banked off the third base dugout and allowed Moreno to score the winning run.
Greg Maisto (2-1) went two hitless innings to earn the win. Reliever Brandon Lawson turned in three shutout innings of one-hit ball to keep the game going. Stone Crabs starter Travis Ott delivered his best start with Charlotte, allowing only one run on three hits over five-plus innings, striking out six and walking two.
The Stone Crabs will go for the series win Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Taylor Hawkins (1-3, 5.85) makes the start for Charlotte against Alberto Tirado (3-3, 4.50) of Clearwater. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.
