FSL1 Clearwater Threshers

Numata, Canelo Collect 3 Hits in Win

May 5, 2016 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Clearwater Threshers News Release


TAMPA, Fla. - Chace Numata and Malquin Canelo led the offense with three hits apiece, as the Clearwater Threshers battled their way to a 7-5 victory over the Tampa Yankees on Education Day at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Scott Kingery knocked his second home run of the season as Clearwater pounded out 14 hits on Thursday morning. Numata finished 3-for-5 with a double, and is batting .367 (11-for-30) over his last ten games.

Clearwater (18-9) struck for the game's first run off starter Vicente Campos (3-2) in the third inning. Samuel Hiciano drew a leadoff walk and Kingery pulled a double down the third base line, his eighth two-base hit of the season. Cord Sandberg followed with a sacrifice fly to center to score Hiciano.

An inning later, Drew Stankiewicz delivered an RBI double to right field to make it 2-0, before the Threshers broke it open in the fifth.

It was Kingery's home run that started it, a sky-high fly over the wall in left to lead off the inning. Sandberg and Numata each singled, and Kyle Martin drove a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Sandberg.

Mitch Walding followed with a sac fly of his own, scoring Numata to make it 5-0. Zach Green jumped on the next pitch and shot a double to right-center, and Canelo did the same for an RBI triple to complete the four-run outburst.

Tampa (16-11) began to scrape its way back in the bottom half.

The Yankees brought home two runs on three hits and a pair of walks against Matt Imhof (3-1), cutting the lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the fifth.

Imhof gave Clearwater five innings in the start, holding Tampa to just the two runs on six hits and four walks, along with picking up four strikeouts.

Tampa managed to inch closer and put the tying run in scoring position in the seventh, after Billy Fleming brought home a pair with a double off Victor Arano. Ulises Joaquin entered facing the heart of the order, and induced a groundout and flyout from Miguel Andujar and Abiatal Avelino to halt the rally.

Clearwater's final run came in the eighth, thanks to Martin's league-leading 23rd RBI. Sandberg doubled and Numata singled to put them at the corners, and Martin hit a liner toward center which the shortstop Avelino knocked down, and tossed to second to get the force on Numata. Sandberg scored on the play to make it 7-4 Threshers.

The final run was added breathing room for Clearwater, particularly after Fleming doubled home his fourth RBI of the game with two out in the bottom of the ninth. Jesse Therrien held on, and got Andujar to fly out to Stankiewicz in left to end the ballgame and earn his second save.

The Threshers are now up two-games-to-one in the series, and will return to George M. Steinbrenner Field for game four of the series on Friday at 7 p.m. Ranfi Casimiro (3-1) will take the hill opposed by Ian Clarkin (2-2), and the game can be heard live on the Threshers Broadcast Network starting at 6:45 p.m.

Check out the Clearwater Threshers Statistics



Florida State League Stories from May 5, 2016


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