Ruiz Drives in Two as Threshers Fall Short
July 23, 2014 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Clearwater Threshers News Release
CLEARWATER -- Carlos Ruiz knocked in two runs, and Art Charles belted his team-leading tenth home run of the season, but the Clearwater Threshers suffered a 7-5 loss in game three of the four-game set against the Charlotte Stone Crabs on Tuesday.
Ruiz, playing in his fifth game of a rehab stint for Clearwater as he returns from concussion symptoms, finished 1-for-5 with a two-run double and a run scored. The Stone Crabs managed a stolen base off him, but Ruiz also picked a runner off first base in the fifth inning.
Charlotte jumped on the board in the first, plating three runs off Threshers' starter Jeb Stefan (6-9).
After a pair of walks opened the ballgame, Leonardo Reginatto got Charlotte on the board with an RBI double that just eluded Angelo Mora in left. A run-scoring groundout and a sacrifice fly made it 3-0 Stone Crabs.
Clearwater (13-18) threatened in the bottom of the second, after Brian Pointer and Harold Martinez connected for back-to-back base knocks. With runners at the corners and just one down, Stone Crabs' starter Austin Pruitt (7-4) got Chris Serritella to strike out.
With the outfield playing shallow, Mora then lined a deep drive to center, but center fielder Johnny Field raced back and made a diving catch with his back to the infield to rob Mora of extra bases and keep the Threshers scoreless.
The Stone Crabs (11-20) tacked on a fourth run the following frame, when Patrick Leonard hit his 13th home run of the season to put Charlotte ahead 4-0.
The Threshers rallied back to tie it in the bottom of the fifth, bringing home four runs all with two outs.
With a man on and two down, J.P. Crawford lined an opposite-field single to left for the first of four-straight hits for Clearwater.
Ruiz then delivered a two-run double to left-centerfield, and Charles followed by belting a two-run bomb to right field on a payoff pitch to knot the game up at four apiece.
The Stone Crabs wasted no time in regaining the advantage, however.
A pair of singles to open the sixth ended the evening for Stefan, and Tyler Goeddel greeted reliever Ethan Stewart with a two-run triple to right-center to bump the Stone Crabs back in front, 6-4. Ariel Soriano added an RBI single to give Charlotte a three-run lead.
Clearwater loaded the bases with one down in the sixth, but a Crawford sac fly to left was the only run they would muster.
The series will conclude on Wednesday, with a special noon-time start on Camp Day at Bright House Field. The call can be heard live on the Threshers' broadcast network beginning at 11:45 a.m.
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