Charlotte Stone Crabs Week in Review: 6/11 - 6/17

The Charlotte Stone Crabs gained some ground on Fort Myers this week by pulling within 4 1/12 games of first with a week left in the first half of the season. The Stone Crabs were 4-3 on the week, struggling against Dunedin and then taking command over Lakeland. This week saw a few of the Tampa Bay Rays rehabbing with Charlotte as Pat Burrell, Jason Bartlett and Scott Kazmir all wore the Stone Crabs uniform at Charlotte Sports Park.

This upcoming weekend is the Florida State League All-Star Game at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. Cody Cipriano, Greg Sexton, Darin Downs and Matt Gorgen will represent the Stone Crabs. Nevin Ashley was also named to the team but is unable to play due to his promotion to AA.

Hitting Leaders: Cody Cipriano remains the offensive leader for the Stone Crabs, he is ranked fifth in hitting in the FSL with a batting average of .313 and has a slugging percentage of .506 which is fourth in the league. Matt Fields continues be second on the league in homers despite his promotion to AA, Cipriano leads the active team members with 5 home runs and doubles with 15. Emeel Salem leads the team in triples and is tied for second in the league. Shawn O’Malley is the team stolen base leader with 21.

Pitching Leaders: The starting pitching for the Stone Crabs continues to pace the Florida State League. Both Jeremy Hall and Darin Downs collected their 7th win of the season this week, which is top of the league tied with Michael McCardell for Fort Myers and Evan Anundsen of Brevard County. David Newmann is tied for second in the league in strikeouts with 65. Matt Gorgen is second in the league in saves with 10 and lowered his ERA to an amazing 0.28 on the year.

Team Stats: The team offense improved to .242 on the season and are second in the league in triples with 21 and stolen bases with 80. Team pitching fell to 3.48 but still remain in fifth place in the league. The Stone Crabs have struck out 476 on the year which is third in the league and walked the second fewest in the league at 143.

Transactions: Pat Burrell returned to Tampa Bay from rehab assignment (6/12/09). Jason Bartlett added to roster for MLB rehab assignment (6/12/09). Joey Callender added to the roster from Hudson Valley (6/15/09). Deivis Mavares added to the roster from Hudson Valley (6/15/09). Jason Bartlett returned to Tampa Bay from rehab assignment. (6/15/09). Scott Kazmir added to roster for MLB rehab assignment (6/17/09).

Injuries: Stephen Vogt (shoulder), Jose Mejias (leg), David Newmann (hand)

The Week Ahead: 6/18/09: vs Lakeland Flying Tigers (26-33). 6/19/09-6/21/09: FSL All-Star Break (All-Star Game 6/20/09). 6/21/09-6/24/09: at St. Lucie Mets (31-31).