Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in Loss to Tarpons
Published on April 28, 2019 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Clearwater Threshers News Release
TAMPA, Fla. - The Clearwater Threshers' bid for a fourth consecutive series victory fell just short on Sunday afternoon, as the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate suffered a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Tarpons at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The two teams split the four-game set in Tampa over the weekend.
Clearwater (10-14) jumped out to the early lead on an RBI single by Jhailyn Ortiz, scoring Dalton Guthrie for the 1-0 advantage. The visitors tacked on two more runs in the fourth thanks to a two-run blast to left from Matt Vierling for the 3-0 edge.
The score remained the same heading into the sixth, but the bullpen that dominated seven hitless frames on Saturday yielded six runs in the fateful inning on Sunday.
Gustavo Armas (1-1) surrendered all six runs on six hits and a walk, with the big blow coming on a three-run home run off the bat of Max Burt to fall into a 6-3 hole.
Luis Carrasco allowed a run in the seventh on an RBI single by Dermis Garcia to stretch the deficit to four.
The offense rallied in the ninth with Colby Fitch starting the stanza with a roller into center to lead things off. Daniel Brito bounced a single to right o put two on for Ben Aklinski, who smacked a double down the line in left to score Fitch.
After Danny Mayer went down on strikes, Jose Gomez singled home Brito to crawl within two, and Dalton Guthrie lifted a sacrifice fly to the track in left to pull within a run. Ortiz would bounce out to third to end the contest.
Gomez finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish to extend his hitting streak to nine games. The 22-year-old is batting .484 during the streak, and has a 10-game on-base streak.
Madison Stokes doubled and singled in the matinee, advancing the South Carolina product's on-base streak to 10 games.
Julian Garcia did not factor into the decision, but shut out Tampa (10-14) through five innings while scattering five hits and collecting six strikeouts before giving way to the bullpen.
Dalton Lehnen (2-1) earned the win for the Tarpons with three scoreless innings of relief of Frank German.
The Threshers will take part in a league-wide off day on Monday before returning to action to take on the Fort Myers Miracle for game one of a three-game series beginning Tuesday night at CenturyLink Sports Complex. RHP Spencer Howard (1-1, 2.75) gets the call in the opener for Clearwater against Fort Myers' LHP Bryan Sammons (3-0, 0.42) First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with coverage starting at 6:15 p.m. with Threshers Live! The Pregame Show on threshersbaseball.com.
Florida State League Stories from April 28, 2019
- Marauders Steal Series from Tortugas, 10-6 - Daytona Tortugas
- Tarpons Rally Late, Hang on to Beat Threshers, 7-6 - Tampa Tarpons
- Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in Loss to Tarpons - Clearwater Threshers
- Gomez' heroics earn Stone Crabs 5-4 win and series sweep - Charlotte Stone Crabs
- De La Cruz Dazzles in Advanced-A Debut, 3-2 - Florida Fire Frogs
- Dobnak Delivers Another Gem In 2-1 Victory - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
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