PORT CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Stone Crabs manager Jim Morrison liked Derek Dietrich’s bases-loaded grounder up the middle. Dietrich was pleased with it, too, making solid contact after whiffing on two strikes.

But Dietrich’s grounder in the eighth — and the Stone Crabs’ budding rally — died in the glove of Lakeland shortstop Dixon Machado, who stepped on second and fired on to first to end the inning in Charlotte’s 2-1 loss to the Flying Tigers on Thursday night.