Stone Crabs squander big lead in 7-6 defeat to Daytona

DAYTONA, Fla. (April 12, 2018) - Despite racking up 12 hits for the second straight day, the Charlotte Stone Crabs coughed up another big lead and lost 7-6 to the Daytona Tortugas at Jackie Robinson Stadium Thursday night.
The loss completed the Tortugas' (7-1) four-game sweep. The Stone Crabs (2-6) have held a lead in six of their eight games this season, but ended up losing four of those six contests. Thursday marked the second straight day in which they blew a lead of four runs or more.
Charlotte jumped in front from the get-go Thursday. Lucius Fox lined a double to right to start the game before Josh Lowe singled him home to give the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. After a Nate Lowe walk, Kevin Padlo plated Fox on a fielder's choice to give Charlotte a 2-0 lead. The next batter was Jesús Sánchez , who drove in Padlo on an infield single to hand the Stone Crabs a 3-0 advantage.
In the top of the second, Rene Pinto singled before Peter Maris doubled him to third. Two batters later, Josh Lowe drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Stone Crabs a 4-0 lead.
After the Tortugas got a run back in the bottom of the inning, Robbie Tenerowicz doubled to start the top of the third. Nate Lowe followed with a single to center to plate Tenerowicz and extend the Stone Crabs lead to 5-1.
The Stone Crabs added another run in the fourth on a two-out Tenerowicz single. That made the score 6-1 Charlotte, which was their largest lead of the night.
In the bottom of the inning, Bruce Yari singled to center with one out. Daniel Sweet and Malik Collymore followed with back-to-back triples to pull Daytona to within 6-3. Brantley Bell then pulled a double to left against Stone Crabs starter Kenny Rosenberg to maket the score 6-4.
Rosenberg lasted 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out two and walking three.
With the Stone Crabs still leading 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh, reliever Reimin Ramos (0-1) retired the first two batters before hitting Tyler Stephenson with a pitch. Mitch Nay then cranked a double to the gap to bring home Stephenson and make it 6-5. The next batter was Yari, who singled to left center to tie the game at six.
It was Yari who also drove in the winning run. In the ninth inning, an error and a Stephenson single put men at second and third with one out. Yari then lined a single to center against Ramos to help the Tortugas walk off with a 7-6 win.
The Stone Crabs will look to get back on track at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night in Lakeland. RHP Mikey York (1-0, 1.59) makes the start for Charlotte against RHP Anthony Castro (0-1, 9.00) of the Flying Tigers. Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.