The Stone Crabs dropped back into a tie for first place with the Miracle in the FSL South division after losing to their I-75 rival. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Charlotte and a six-game winning streak for the team at Charlotte Sports Park. Charlotte (13-9) dug themselves a hole early as starter Jesse Darcy (0-2) gave up five runs in the first three innings to a relentless Fort Myers offense. The Miracle (13-9) knocked three consecutive singles to score two runs in the first inning then recorded a triple, double and single to score a pair of runs in the second inning. Chris Parmelee tacked another run on the board in the top of the third inning when he belted his fourth homer of the year over the right field wall. The Stone Crabs mounted a comeback in the bottom of the fourth inning with a two-run rally off an RBI groundout from Nevin Ashley and a two-out, RBI single from Ryan Royster off Miracle starter David Bromberg (2-0). After a scoreless inning for both teams in the fifth inning, Matt Fields crushed a first-pitch fastball over the boardwalk in left field off Bromberg for his fourth longball of the season. Nevin Ashley then picked up another RBI in the bottom of the sixth inning off a sacrifice fly and narrowed the gap to one run. But Fort Myers added an extra insurance run in the top of the eighth inning off Charlotte reliever Kevin Boggan and shut down the Stone Crabs offense in the final three innings to secure the victory. The teams travel to Fort Myers tomorrow to finish the four-game series at Hammond Stadium. Lefty David Newmann (1-1, 5.59) will start for Charlotte against fellow southpaw Tyler Robertson (1-0, 4.30) for Fort Myers. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs. |
