Triples lift Stone Crabs to 3-2 win

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (July 9, 2018) - The Charlotte Stone Crabs used a pair of fifth inning triples Monday to beat the St. Lucie Mets 3-2 at Charlotte Sports Park. 
In a scoreless game in the fifth, Josh Lowe  started off the inning with a triple. Then two batters later, Jake Fraley  tripled to the same spot in right center to score Lowe and give the Stone Crabs (43-42, 9-9) a 1-0 lead. The next batter was Jermaine Palacios , who drove home Fraley with a sacrifice fly to center to put the Stone Crabs up 2-0. 
Lowe also walked twice in the game and is now hitting .471 over his last 10 games. He's collected nine extra-base hits and 10 walks over that time, good for an OPS of 1.425.
In the top of the sixth, the Mets (33-51, 6-11) cut the deficit in half with Andrés Giménez solo home run to right to make it 2-1.
An insurance run was added in the seventh inning when Tristan Gray  singled in Fraley after he lead off the inning with a walk.
In the top of the ninth, St. Lucie rallied with three straight two-out hits, but Zack Mozingo  held on for his second save this season.
Kenny Rosenberg  (6-1) tossed five scoreless innings, giving up two hits and two walks while striking out six to get the win on his 23^rd birthday.
Monday's victory is the Stone Crabs' fourth win in their last five games, giving them soul position of the first place in the South.
Game two of the four game series will take place Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.. The Stone Crabs will send left-hander Josh Fleming , (High-A debut) to the mound against righty Joe Cavallaro (High-A debut). Coverage begins at 6:20 on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.