Stone Crabs drop finale in Clearwater 8-3

CLEARWATER, Fla. (July 8, 2018) - Four Stone Crabs reached base multiple times Sunday, but the Clearwater Threshers salvaged the series finale with an 8-3 win at Spectrum Field.
In a scoreless game in the top of the first, Lucius Fox reached on an error before Miles Mastrobuoni pulled a double over the first base bag to give the Stone Crabs (42-42, 8-9) a 1-0 lead.
After Clearwater tied the game on a Henri Lartigue single in the third, Jake Fraley singled for Charlotte to start the fourth. After a sacrifice bunt, Fraley stole third before coming home on a David Olmedo-Barrera groundout to give the Stone Crabs a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Luke Williams doubled before Lartigue singled up the middle to plate Williams and tie the game at two.
That knocked out Stone Crabs starter Blake Bivens (5-2), who allowed three runs over 4.2 innings, striking out three and walking one. After Bivens exited, Mickey Moniak clubbed a two-run home run to right to give Clearwater a 4-2 lead.
The Threshers added two runs in the sixth on a Jose Gomez triple and an Arquimedes Gamboa sacrifice fly to make it 6-2.
Charlotte got a run back in the top of the seventh. After Olmedo-Barrera doubled to start the inning, he stole third before Robbie Tenerowicz drove him in with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 6-3.
The Stone Crabs bullpen surrendered five runs on seven hits Sunday, putting the game out of reach.
The Stone Crabs will return home to start a four-game series with the St. Lucie Mets at 6:35 p.m. on Monday. Kenny Rosenberg (5-1, 4.69) makes the start for Charlotte. Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.