Stone Crabs sweep Bradenton with 3-2 win

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (August 8, 2018) - The Charlotte Stone Crabs scored early and held on to sweep the Bradenton Marauders with a 3-2 win Wednesday night at Charlotte Sports Park.
After Stone Crabs (61-50, 27-17) designated hitter Brendan McKay tripled with one out in the bottom of the first, Robbie Tenerowicz drove him home with a sacrifice fly to center. The next batter was Tristan Gray , who launched a solo home run to right center to extend the lead to 2-1.
Gray's home run was his 13^th of the year, bringing him within one of the franchise's single-season record.
After the Marauders (50-58, 15-28) cut the lead in half on back-to-back doubles in the second, Gray walked to begin the fourth. After he moved to third on a Rene Pinto single, Jake Fraley flew out to deep right to bring in Gray and make it 3-1.
The Stone Crabs surrendered a run in the seventh on a Bligh Madris single, but the bullpen held on to the lead.
After Jose Disla allowed a leadoff double to Bradenton third baseman Hunter Owen in the eighth, Tenerowicz started a double play on a hard line drive to snuff out the Marauders rally. Left-hander Ivan Pelaez worked a perfect ninth for his third save.
Charlotte starter Riley O'Brien (4-3) went five innings to notch the win, allowing one run on four hits while striking out two.
The Stone Crabs will start a four-game series with the Dunedin Blue Jays at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday. Kenny Rosenberg (9-2, 4.69) makes the start for Charlotte against Yennsy Diaz (4-4, 3.95) of Dunedin. Coverage starts at 6:20 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.