Charlotte Stone Crabs vs Daytona Cubs

Port Charlotte, Florida: It was the longest game in franchise history with 19 innings of baseball being played on Monday night at Charlotte Sports Park. When the dust settled over five hours from the first pitch, the Charlotte Stone Crabs fell to the Daytona Cubs 4-3.

The evening marked the return of Rocco Baldelli the Tampa Bay organization after being signed to a minor league contract earlier on Monday. Baldelli started as the designated hitter for the Stone Crabs during the marathon game. The loss was the Stone Crabs fifth consecutive loss.

Daytona jumped out to an early lead in the fist inning. DJ LeMahieu doubled to right then later advanced to third on a wild pitch. LeMahieu then scored on a single by Ryan Flaherty. Michael Brenly followed with a single to center. Kyler Burke drove home both runners with a double to center, giving the Cubs a 3-0 lead.

The Stone Crabs added a run of their own in the bottom of the first. Tim Beckham doubled to left to get things started. Then Greg Sexton drove him home with an RBI double to center to bring them within two.

Both pitching staffs dueled with scoreless innings through the ninth inning, when the Stone Crabs mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth. Michael Sheridan, Jake Jefferies and Anthony Scelfo delivered three consecutive singles to load the bases. Kyeong Kang singled to right, driving home two runs to tie the game and force extra innings.

And extra innings there were, ten of them to be exact. The pitching staffs battled back and forth, throwing nine scoreless innings in the added innings. It wasn't until the nineteenth inning until another run would score. Burke drove home a run with a double to center that scored Flaherty to give the Cubs a 4-3 win.

The Stone Crabs went through six pitchers in the game, with infielder Matt Hall coming in to pitch the eighteenth and nineteenth innings and taking the loss.

The series with the Cubs continues again Tuesday at Charlotte Sports Park.

For photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Cubs photo gallery.