Tarpons rally late to beat Stone Crabs 9-4

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (April 22, 2019) - Ronaldo Hernandez had three hits and Moises Gomez connected on his second home run Monday, but the Stone Crabs' bullpen gave up eight runs in a 9-4 loss to the Tampa Tarpons at Charlotte Sports Park.
With the Stone Crabs (6-12) leading 3-2 in the top of the seventh, Tarpons (7-11) second baseman Oswaldo Cabrera singled with two outs. The next batter was Dermis Garcia, who clobbered his league-leading sixth home run of the year to left to give Tampa a 4-3 lead.
That closed the book on Charlotte reliever Jack Labosky (0-1), who surrendered a pair of leads, giving up three runs on six hits over three innings.
With Tampa still leading by one in the ninth, the Tarpons loaded the bases before Isiah Gilliam lined a two-run single to center to extend the lead to 6-3. The next batter was Steven Sensley, who shot a three-run homer off the batter's eye in center to make it 9-3.
Gomez got Charlotte a run back in the bottom of the inning with an opposite field homer to right.
Labosky and Alex Valverde combined to allow eight runs on 10 hits in five innings Monday, as the Tarpons claimed the series opener.
In the bottom of the third, the Stone Crabs got on the board first when Vidal Brujan lined a single to right to score Zach Rutherford and make it 1-0.
The Tarpons tied the game in the fourth on a Brujan fielding error. Tied 1-1 in the sixth, Gilliam doubled to right before Max Burt drove him in with an RBI single to give Tampa a 2-1 lead.
However, the Stone Crabs fought right back in the bottom of the sixth. After a Hernandez single and a Tyler Frank walk, Garrett Whitley plated two runs on a pop fly double to center to give Charlotte a 3-2 lead.
Hernandez and Whitley have both picked up the production over the last week for the Stone Crabs. Hernandez is now 5-for-9 with 4 RBI in his last two games, while Whitley is 7-for-16 with three doubles, a home run, three walks and 4 RBI over his last five.
The Stone Crabs will look to even the series with Tampa at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Jhonleider Salinas (0-2, 5.87) will open for Tobias Myers (0-1, 5.84), while Clark Schmidt (0-1, 3.46) goes for Tampa. Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.