Four-hit nights not enough in 11-3 Opening Night loss

Brujan, Chester both deliver four hits in defeat

Zach Rutherford drove in the first run of the 2019 season Thursday night in Fort Myers.

By John Vittas

April 5, 2019

FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 4, 2019) - Vidal Brujan and Carl Chester both notched four hits, but the Charlotte Stone Crabs allowed eight unanswered runs late to fall 11-3 to the Fort Myers Miracle on Opening Night at Hammond Stadium. Brujan, Chester and Zach Rutherford accounted for 10 of the

FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 4, 2019) - Vidal Brujan and Carl Chester both notched four hits, but the Charlotte Stone Crabs allowed eight unanswered runs late to fall 11-3 to the Fort Myers Miracle on Opening Night at Hammond Stadium.
Brujan, Chester and Zach Rutherford accounted for 10 of the 11 Charlotte (0-1) hits, but the Stone Crabs left ten runners on base and the bullpen surrendered eight.
The Stone Crabs got the scoring going in the top of the second. A Chester single to left and a Fort Myers (1-0) error put runners on first and second with nobody out. After a double play, Rutherford ripped a double to the wall in left center to plate Chester and make it 1-0.
The Miracle responded with two-out RBI hits from Lewin Diaz and Ben Rortvedt in the bottom of the inning to make it 2-1 Fort Myers.
With the score the same in the bottom of the fifth, Akil Baddoo lined a home run down the left field line to extend the Miracle lead to 3-1.
Stone Crabs starter Riley O'Brien looked sharp, but fell victim to some timely Fort Myers hitting. O'Brien struck out eight in 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on three hits.
Trailing 3-1 in the top of the sixth, Chester singled to center to start the inning. With two outs, Rutherford walked before Brujan turned on a pitch and doubled off the right field wall to tie the game at three.
However, the Miracle immediately took the lead right back in the bottom of the inning when Travis Blankenhorn and Ryan Jeffers both doubled. After Charlotte reliever Tanner Dodson (0-1) battled back with the bases loaded and nobody out to retire the next two, Royce Lewis lined a two-run single to left to extend the Fort Myers lead to 6-3.
The Miracle tacked on another run in the seventh before plating four more in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
The Stone Crabs will look to even the series at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Tommy Romero makes his High-A debut for Charlotte against Jhoan Duran of the Miracle. Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.