Kelly's grand slam gives Stone Crabs 8-4 win over Yankees

Stone Crabs get to five hundred for first time since Opening Day

By John Vittas

May 5, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. (May 5, 2017) - Dalton Kelly slugged a grand slam to right center to break a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning Friday, leading the Charlotte Stone Crabs to an 8-4 win over the Tampa Yankees at Steinbrenner Field.With the game tied at three in the top of

TAMPA, Fla. (May 5, 2017) - Dalton Kelly slugged a grand slam to right center to break a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning Friday, leading the Charlotte Stone Crabs to an 8-4 win over the Tampa Yankees at Steinbrenner Field.
With the game tied at three in the top of the eighth, Stone Crabs (14-14) shortstop Jake Cronenworth singled before Ryan Brett drew a walk. After a popout, Ryan Boldt walked to load the bases with one out. Kelly followed and pulled the team's second grand slam of the season over the right field wall.
The home run was Kelly's first of the season. He is now 6-for-12 with four runs scored over his last three games.
Cronenworth added a solo home run in the ninth to extend the Charlotte lead to 8-4.
Michael Santos (3-0) went 3.1 innings of relief to earn the win, allowing one run on one hit while striking out two. Michael Velasquez started the game for Charlotte and surrendered two earned runs on five hits over 5.2 frames.
The win gets Charlotte back to five hundred for the first time since Opening Day. The Stone Crabs have won five games in a row and are 12-5 in their last 17 contests.
The Stone Crabs got the scoring going early. After Brett doubled with one out in the top of the first, Brandon Lowe singled him to third. Boldt followed by driving in Brett on a sacrifice fly to left to give Charlotte a 1-0 lead.
After the Yankees (10-14) tied the game in the bottom of the first, Peter Maris and Manny Sanchez both doubled to the corner to give Charlotte the lead back.
Still up one in the third, Lowe added a solo home run to right to extend the Stone Crabs' lead to 3-1.
The Yankees plated a pair of runs to tie the game in the sixth on a solo home run from Tito Polo and an error by Brett.
Friday marked the first time all season that the Stone Crabs homered three times in one game.
After starting the road trip 5-0, Charlotte will go for the series win Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Eduar Lopez makes the start for the Stone Crabs against Taylor Widener of Tampa. Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.