4-run 7th Dooms Stone Crabs
Ft. Myers-It seems that Ft. Myers can do no wrong during their now 10-game winning streak, and a 4-run 7th inning was proof of that in a 5-2 victory over Charlotte.
With the Stone Crabs up 2-1 after 6 solid innings by starter Ryan Carpenter, Jacob Partridge came on and the first batter he faced was Jhon Goncalves, who hit a pop-up into short right field. Second baseman Hector Guevara battled the sun and wind, but the ball fell to his right cleanly and Goncalves, hustling all the way, got credit for a double. After a sacrifice moved him to third, A J Pettersen brought Goncalves home with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2. On the play Goncalves bowled over catcher Luke Bailey, who left the game later after being hit by a pitch on his right arm. Then after a walk and a controversial hit batter, Miguel Sano crushed a Partridge offering deep over the left field wall to give the Miracle the lead for good.
After falling behind 1-0, the Stone Crabs tied the game in the second on Bailey's infield hit, which scored Richie Shaffer, who had doubled and stolen third.
Charlotte took the lead in the fifth. With one out, Jake Hager, who extended his hitting streak to 6 games earlier, tripled to right, as Goncalves couldn't make a diving catch. Hector Guevara hit a ground ball to first that was booted by Kennys Vargas, which allowed Hager to score.
Shaffer and Kyeong Kang both extended their hitting streaks to 6 as well in the loss, the third straight for Charlotte. The Stone Crabs head to the east coast this week, playing in St. Lucie Monday-Wednesday before heading to Jupiter Thursday-Saturday. Charlotte returns home next Sunday to battle St. Lucie, with the first pitch scheduled for 5:30pm. You can get your tickets today by calling the box office at 941-206-HITS or visiting www.stonecrabsbaseball.com.