Larnach launches two home runs, Miracle take down Charlotte

Outfielder knocks in four, Diaz also goes deep in wild 9-7 victory

By Andrew Bern

May 7, 2019

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Trevor Larnach homered twice, his first two home runs of the season, and the Miracle staved off a late Charlotte Stone Crabs rally in a 9-7 win on Tuesday night at Charlotte Sports Park.Larnach's first blast, a deep drive to the right of the batter's eye, gave

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Trevor Larnach homered twice, his first two home runs of the season, and the Miracle staved off a late Charlotte Stone Crabs rally in a 9-7 win on Tuesday night at Charlotte Sports Park.
Larnach's first blast, a deep drive to the right of the batter's eye, gave the Miracle a 1-0 lead in the first. Following a Jose Miranda double, Lewin Diaz homered for the second time in four games to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Miracle added to their lead with two more runs in the second, taking advantage of three Stone Crabs errors. Charlotte answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame, capitalizing on two Miracle errors to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Garrett Whitley homered in the fourth to bring the Stone Crabs to within one.
In the seventh, with the Miracle still leading 5-4, Larnach clubbed his second home run of the night, a three-run shot into the Miracle bullpen beyond the left field wall. Larnach finished 3-5 with 4 RBI.
The Miracle added an important insurance run in the eighth to take a 9-4 advantage as Charlotte plated three runs in the bottom of the inning to close the gap to 9-7.
In the ninth, the Stone Crabs put the tying runs on base with two outs before Calvin Faucher struck out Ronaldo Hernandez for the one out save. The save was the first for Faucher this season.
Bryan Sammons, in his first start since lasting one inning on April 30 against Clearwater, struck out a career high 10 in five innings. His previous career high was eight, accomplished on five separate occasions. Sammons (4-0) allowed four runs (one earned). The former eighth round pick (2017) has a 0.66 ERA through six starts.
Every Miracle starter recorded at least a hit with Diaz, Royce Lewis, Akil Baddoo, and Trey Cabbage joining Larnach with multi-hit performances. Baddoo also drove in two runs.
The teams combined to make seven errors. The Miracle committed three while the Stone Crabs were charged with four.
The rubber game of the three-game series is on Wednesday night as the series shifts to Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. Jhoan Duran (0-3, 4.03), who is still searching for his first win of the season, will start for the Miracle.