Crabs mash five homers in 9-3 win over Threshers

CLEARWATER, Fla. (May 19, 2019) - Moises Gomez turned in his second multi-home run performance of his career Sunday, as the Charlotte Stone Crabs beat the Clearwater Threshers 9-3 to claim the weekend series at Spectrum Field.
Charlotte (22-21) clobbered a season-high five home runs, as Rays rehabber Matt Duffy reached base four times and fell a double short of the cycle.
The Stone Crabs jumped on top early against FSL strikeout leader Damon Jones (1-3). With one out in the top of the first, Duffy lofted a triple to the right field corner. Two batters later, Gomez popped a two-run homer to the opposite field to make it 2-0 Charlotte.
Still leading by that margin in the top of the fifth, Duffy lined a one-out single to center. Two batters later, Gomez cranked a two-run homer to left to make it 4-0 Charlotte. The next batter was Garrett Whitley , who lined a solo home run to left center to extend the advantage to 5-0.
Charlotte starter Michael Plassmeyer (1-0) went five innings to earn his first High-A win. He allowed one run on six hits while striking out four.
After Clearwater (20-22) rallied for three unanswered runs to make it 5-3, Duffy belted a solo shot to left to make it 6-3.
From there, Charlotte's bullpen tiptoed the finish. The Stone Crabs stranded 13 Clearwater runners over the final seven innings to hold the lead. They added three runs in the ninth on a Jim Haley three-run home run to cap the scoring at 9-3.
Haley has hit all three of his home runs in the last eight games, going 15-for-32 with over that span. Gomez' multi-home run performance was his second of his career, with the first coming on July 26, 2018.
Entering this weekend's series, the Stone Crabs' season high in hits for a game was 12. They mashed 14 hits in both of their wins against Clearwater. Charlotte totaled 25 runs, 32 hits and eight home runs in the series, all of which were season highs for a series.
The Stone Crabs will look to keep the bats rolling as they start a three-game series with the Jupiter Hammerheads at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. Joe Ryan (0-1, 6.75) will start Monday's game for Charlotte, followed by Stephen Woods Jr. (1-1, 6.23) and Tommy Romero (2-1, 2.81). All three games can be heard on the Hammerheads Baseball Network.