Three Homers Not Enough as Threshers Drop Series
April 30, 2017 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Clearwater Threshers News Release
Drew Stankiewicz and Wilson Garcia each went yard for the first time this season, but Clearwater suffered the series loss in falling 6-5 to St. Lucie at First Data Field on Sunday.
Major League rehabber Wilmer Flores delivered the decisive blow for St. Lucie (10-14), driving a two-run homer off Jeff Singer (1-1) in the eighth to break a four-all tie.
Stankiewicz finished 3-for-4 with a double, homer, and two RBIs, while Garcia turned in a 3-for-4 day including a home run, two doubles, and two RBIs. Emmanuel Marrero homered in the ninth inning, his second of the year, to bring the Threshers within one.
It was the first time this season the Threshers (16-8) have lost after scoring the game's first run.
Clearwater held the early lead on Sunday, after Mark Laird singled, stole second, and scored on a Garcia double to left.
Major League rehabber Brandon Nimmo quickly got that run back for St. Lucie. After starter Blake Quinn fell behind in the count 3-1, Nimmo homered to center to tie the ballgame at one in the bottom of the first.
Stankiewicz opened the second inning by driving the first pitch of the frame over the right field wall for his first home run of the season, putting Clearwater back in front, 2-1.
Garcia extended the lead to two in the fifth. With one out, Garcia lifted the first pitch from Adam Atkins out to left to make it 3-1 Threshers.
The Mets got the run back in the bottom half against reliever Edgar Garcia, rallying for three-straight singles with two outs to cut the deficit to one.
Clearwater kept the lead until one out into the seventh, when John Mora singled and Flores knocked a double to left off Luke Leftwich . Joan Urena followed with a single to right to score Mora with the tying run, and Anthony Dimino singled to left to plate Flores.
Down 4-3, Stankiewicz came up clutch in the eighth.
Garcia opened the inning with a double to left, and was replaced by pinch-runner Zach Coppola. After a pair of fly outs, Stankiewicz came through with a ground-rule double to right that scored Coppola with the tying run.
After Flores' two run homer put St. Lucie ahead once again, the Threshers made it interesting in the ninth for the second-straight day. Marrero led off the inning with a home run on the first pitch from Johnny Magliozzi (3-1), and Mark Laird followed with a single to center to put the tying run on.
Magliozzi then retired Cornelius Randolph, Herlis Rodriguez, and Damek Tomscha in order to end the game. Rodriguez's 12-game on-base streak came to a close after an 0-for-4 day, while Tomscha's 11-game hitting streak ended after a strikeout in his only at-bat.
The Threshers will return home to open a four-game series with the Jupiter Hammerheads on Monday night at Spectrum Field. Seranthony Dominguez (2-0) takes the hill against Felipe Gonzalez (2-1) with first pitch at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on threshersbaseball.com beginning at 6:45 p.m.
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Florida State League Stories from April 30, 2017
- Bautista Blanks Bombers, 4-0 - Daytona Tortugas
- Miracle Cap Wild Comeback with Three-Run Eighth - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
- Three Homers Not Enough as Threshers Drop Series - Clearwater Threshers
- T-Yanks Blanked by 'Tugas in Finale - Tampa Yankees
- Cronenworth Extends Hitting Streak to 24 in 4-2 Loss - Charlotte Stone Crabs
- Flores Lifts Mets to 6-5 Victory over Threshers - St. Lucie Mets
- Bradenton Ends April with a Win - Bradenton Marauders
- Tampa Pounds Daytona, 12-1 - Daytona Tortugas
- Santos and Lawson Pitch Stone Crabs to 2-1 Win - Charlotte Stone Crabs
- Tampa Erupts for Season-High 12 Runs To - Tampa Yankees
- Hernandez Homers Twice, Drives in 4 in 5-4 Loss - Clearwater Threshers
- - Jays Spoil Bark in the Park with 6-2 Win - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
- Mets Hang on Late to Beat Threshers 5-4 - St. Lucie Mets
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