Romero pitches Charlotte past Cards 3-0

JUPITER, Fla. (June 29, 2019) - Tommy Romero led the Stone Crabs' sixth shutout in the last 12 games, as Charlotte blanked Palm Beach 3-0 at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
The Stone Crabs (44-34, 9-3) held Palm Beach (38-37, 3-8) to just three hits for the second straight night, extending their winning streak to a season-best six games. Saturday's win puts the Stone Crabs in solo possession of first place for the first time all season.
Romero (6-2) limited the Cardinals to two hits over five innings. He struck out three and walked one. Left-hander Trey Cumbie then spun three scoreless, fanning three and allowing one hit. Chander Raiden worked a perfect ninth inning to notch his sixth save.
 The Stone Crabs wasted no time taking the lead against Palm Beach starter Griffin Roberts (0-3). Thomas Milone and Wander Franco both stroked singles to start the game before Jim Haley was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. The next batter was Ronaldo Hernandez , who bounced into a double play, scoring Milone to make it 1-0.
In the top of the third, Franco walked before Haley ripped a double to the gap to put men at second and third. Two batters later, Michael Perri committed a fielding error to allow Franco to score and bring the tally to 2-0.
The score remained 2-0 until the top of the seventh. Jermaine Palacios led off the inning with a line drive single. After stealing second and advancing to third on an error, Franco lifted a deep fly ball to left to score Palacios and make it 3-0.
The Stone Crabs will bid for their second consecutive sweep at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Michael Plassmeyer (3-2, 2.78) is scheduled to pitch for Charlotte, against Zach Prendergast (2-2, 3.55) of the Cardinals. Coverage of the game begins at 12:45 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.