Randolph Crushes 4th Homer in 3-2 Loss in 10
May 8, 2017 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Clearwater Threshers News Release
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Clearwater and Florida kept it close on Sunday, battling into extra innings before the Threshers suffered their second series loss to the Fire Frogs, falling 3-2 in 10 innings at Osceola County Stadium.
The Threshers (19-12) are now 2-6 against Florida (15-16). The Fire Frogs are the only team in the North with a winning record against Clearwater. The teams combined for 13 runs in the series.
The game entered extras tied at two on Sunday night, before Omar Obregon popped a bunt past pitcher Jacob Waguespack and beat it out for a single, and Ray-Patrick Didder followed with a bunt base hit in front of the plate.
Jonathan Morales put down a sacrifice, advancing the winning run to third and setting the Fire Frogs up with second and third and just one out.
The Threshers deployed a five-man infield with Ronald Acuna at the plate, bringing Herlis Rodriguez in from right and playing the infield in with three men on the left side, two on the right. Waguespack proceeded to strike out Acuna looking for a big second out.
Clearwater elected to intentionally walk Alex Jackson to load the bases for Austin Riley . On a 1-1 pitch, Riley sent one deep to the right field corner that dropped in for the game-winner, scoring Obregon from third.
The contest was a tight one throughout, with the teams remaining scoreless into the fifth inning.
Florida broke out on the board first, when Didder went yard off starter Seranthony Dominguez to make it 1-0 Fire Frogs.
The Threshers grabbed the lead on another long one in the sixth. After Zach Coppola reached on an infield single, Cornelius Randolph launched a 406-foot drive over the wall in right for his fourth home run of the season, putting Clearwater up 2-1.
Riley brought it back even in the bottom half, knocking his seventh homer of the year out to left to tie the game at two.
Dominguez exited after six innings and did not factor in the decision, holding the league's top offense to two runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out seven.
Edgar Garcia spun two hitless in relief, facing the minimum and picking up five strikeouts. He issued a one-out walk to Tyler Neslony in the eighth, but induced a strike out of Obregon before Neslony was caught stealing to end the inning.
Waguespack (0-1) worked around a single and a walk in the ninth to push it to extras, before the Fire Frogs emerged with the decisive run in the 10th.
Clearwater will head back home to open a six-game homestand at Spectrum Field beginning on Monday, when the Threshers meet the Charlotte Stone Crabs at 7 p.m. Jose Taveras (3-1) will take the hill for Clearwater, opposed by Blake Bivens (2-2). The game will be broadcast live on threshersbaseball.com starting at 6:45 p.m.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
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Florida State League Stories from May 8, 2017
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- Randolph Crushes 4th Homer in 3-2 Loss in 10 - Clearwater Threshers
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