Stone Crabs Take Game Two of FSL Championship Series

Buddy Borden struck out eight hitters and only allowed three men on base in seven innings pitched. (Photo: Jim Donten)

The Stone Crabs remained perfect in the 2015 postseason as they defeated the Daytona Tortugas 6-1 on Friday night in game two of the Florida State League Championship Series. The offense jumped out to an early lead which was backed by a great performance from Buddy Borden to lead the Stone Crabs to victory.

The Stone Crabs took advantage of a few Daytona miscues to grab the lead in the second inning. Justin Williams reached on an error followed by a single by Pat Blair. Then Kean Wong laid down a sac bunt to advance the runners but a fielding error gave him first base and scored Williams. Armando Araiza followed with a bunt that scored and Blair and moved Wong up to second with one out. The Stone Crabs then loaded the bases when Braxton Lee was hit by a pitch. An RBI single by Hector Guevara drove home Wong to give the Stone Crabs a 3-0 lead.

The Stone Crabs added to their lead in the fourth. Granden Goetzman singled to lead off the inning. He later scored on a sac fly by Blair to increase the lead to 4-0.
Daytona scored their lone run of the evening in the bottom of the fourth. A sac fly by Daniel Pigott scored Ty Washington to make it 4-1.

The Stone Crabs pushed across a pair of insurance runs in the seventh. They loaded the bases on a hit by pitch for Mike Marjama, a walk to Casey Gillaspie and an intentional walk to Williams. Blair delivered once again with a double to left that scored Marjama and Gillaspie to give the Stone Crabs a 6-1 lead.

That was all that was needing because for the fourth straight playoff game, the Stone Crabs were getting season best performances from their pitchers. Borden gave the Stone Crabs seven dominating innings in which he struck out eighth hitters and only allowed three base runners. Then the bullpen combination of Josh Kimborowicz and Isaac Gil took it the rest of the way to ensure the win.

Borden picked up the win and Seth Varner was charged with the loss.

The Stone Crabs look to clinch the championship as the series shifts to Charlotte Sports Park for game three on Saturday night.