Stone Crabs drop finale to Jays 9-3

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (June 7, 2018) - Alexis Tapia and Jake Fraley both returned from the disabled list Thursday, but the Charlotte Stone Crabs dropped the series finale to the Dunedin Blue Jays 9-3 at Charlotte Sports Park.
Tapia (0-1) made the start in his first appearance since May 9, 2017, allowing three unearned runs on six hits over three innings.
Outfielder Jake Fraley reached base twice in his first game with the Stone Crabs (26-30) since May 27 of last year.
The Blue Jays (24-33) got the offense rolling the third, when Kevin Smith and Bradley Jones both singled against Tapia. After an error loaded the bases, Nash Knight doubled with two outs to give Dunedin a 3-0 lead.
After the Blue Jays added a run in the sixth, Smith delivered a three-run home run in the eighth to make it 7-0. After two more hits, Knight singled to center to extend the Dunedin lead to 9-0.
The Stone Crabs added two runs in bottom of the inning on a Lucius Fox single and a Miles Mastrobuoni groundout. Tristan Gray added a solo home run in the ninth to make it 9-3.
Charlotte will begin a three-game series with the Clearwater Threshers Friday night at 6:35 p.m. at Charlotte Sports Park. Willy Ortiz (4-0, 4.02) makes the start for the Stone Crabs against Nick Fanti (1-2, 6.46) of Clearwater. Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.