Charlotte Stone Crabs win third straight with 5-3 win over Palm Beach Cardinals

The Game: The Charlotte Stone Crabs picked up their third win in a row by defeating the Palm Beach Cardinals 5-3 on Saturday at Roger Dean Stadium. Trailing through seven innings, the Stone Crabs rallied to earn the victory.

Pitching dominated the game through the first three frames. It wasn't until the fourth inning when the Stone Crabs broke the scoreless tie. Henry Wrigley got things started with a double to center, his third double of the season. Wrigley later scored on a ground ball by Stephen Vogt. Jake Jefferies followed with an RBI triple to score Vogt and give the Stone Crabs a 2-0 lead.

Palm Beach battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Tony Cruz reached on an error to lead off the inning. Cruz then advanced to third on a single by Xavier Scruggs. Osvaldo Morales drew a walk to load the bases for the Cardinals. Domnit Bolivar drove home the first run with a force out to short. Jose Garcia drove in the second run with a single to right that scored Scruggs to tie the game 2-2.

Palm Beach took the lead an inning later with a solo home run by Matt Carpenter, giving the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.

The Stone Crabs battled back to tie the game in the seventh inning. Reid Fronk led off the inning with a single to center. Fronk advanced to second on a wild pitch. Isaias Velasquez drove home the tying run with a single to center to score Fronk and tie the game 3-3.

Charlotte kept the game from going extra innings by posting two runs in the ninth inning. Reid Fronk led off the inning with a triple to right. Fronk then scored the go ahead run on a passed ball. Then Isaias Velasquez singled on a bunt and moved to second on an errant throw. Anthony Scelfo would single Velasquez home for an insurance run. Josh Satow would keep the Cardinals off the board in the bottom of the ninth to secure the 5-3 Stone Crabs win.

Joseph Cruz got the start and pitched 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits with 2 strikeouts and a walk. Neil Schenk pitched 2 shut-out innings and struck out 4, walked 1 and gave up 1 hit. Josh Satow was the winning pitcher, allowing no runs on 1 hit with 3 strikeouts and a walk in 2 innings. David Carpenter was the losing pitcher for Palm Beach.

Stone Crabs Player of the Game: Reid Fronk; 2 for 4 with a triple, scored the tying and go ahead runs.

RP Top Prospect Watch:
Joseph Cruz: 3 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits with 2 strikeouts and 4 walks.
Jake Jefferies: 1 for 4 with a triple and an RBI.
Kyeong Kang: 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Matt Sweeney: 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

A Look Ahead: The Stone Crabs (3-0) look to sweep the Palm Beach Cardinals (0-3) on Sunday at Roger Dean Stadium. Frank De Los Santos will start for Charlotte facing Scott McGregor of Palm Beach.