De Leon, first-inning rally lead Stone Crabs to 3-2 win over Miracle

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (May 11, 2017) - The Charlotte Stone Crabs scored three runs in the first inning en route to a 3-2 win over the Fort Myers Miracle Thursday night at Charlotte Sports Park.
With the Stone Crabs (17-17) trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Ryan Brett singled to center to start the inning. After Brett stole second, Jake Cronenworth pulled a singled to right to score Brett and tie the game at one. After Ryan Boldt replaced Cronenworth on the base paths with a fielder's choice, Brandon Lowe doubled to the wall in center to give Charlotte a 2-1 lead. The next batter was Dalton Kelly , who doubled down the line in right to push across Lowe and make it 3-1.
That would be all the Stone Crabs needed. Starting pitcher José De León went 3.1 innings, striking out seven while allowing two runs on five hits. Eduar Lopez (3-3) piggybacked De Leon by tossing 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball.
Fort Myers (16-19) starter Lachlan Wells (1-5) settled down to finish off six innings of three-run ball while striking out two.
Charlotte closer Drew Smith faced the minimum over two innings to earn his second save of the season.
Kelly and Lowe both finished the night with two hits to highlight the offensive effort.
The Stone Crabs have now won three straight games and will go for the series win over Fort Myers Friday. Génesis Cabrera (2-3, 3.71) makes the start for Charlotte against Chris Anderson (0-0, 14.14) of the Miracle. Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.