Lawson leads Stone Crabs to series win

TAMPA, Fla. (May 23, 2018) - Stone Crabs starter Brandon Lawson spun a career-best seven scoreless innings Wednesday night, leading Charlotte to a 5-3 win over the Tampa Tarpons at Steinbrenner Field.
Lawson (2-4) also set a career high with seven strikeouts. He allowed just four hits and walked two.
The Stone Crabs (21-23) entered the top of the fourth in a scoreless game before Kevin Padlo drew a two-out walk. After he stole second, Tarpons (24-20) right-hander Will Carter (0-1) issued back-to-back wild pitches, allowing Padlo to score and give Charlotte a 1-0 lead.
Carter allowed just one run over six quality innings, surrendering four hits and three walks while fanning six.
With Charlotte still leading 1-0 in the top of the seventh, Miles Mastrobuoni reached on an error before Lucius Fox singled him to second. Two batters later, Jesús Sánchez sliced a double to the gap in left center to bring home Mastrobuoni and make it 2-0. Nate Lowe followed by dropping a single into center, scoring both runners to extend the Stone Crabs' lead to 4-0.
Charlotte added another run in the ninth on a Brendan McKay RBI double to make the lead 5-0.
Stone Crabs reliever Spencer Jones pitched the team out of a jam in the eighth, but allowed a three-run home run to Dom Thompson-Williams in the bottom of the ninth to cap the scoring at 5-3.
The Stone Crabs will start a four-game series with the Fort Myers Miracle Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. at Charlotte Sports Park. Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.