Third-Straight Walkoff Win Extends Streak to Twelve
May 6, 2023 - Florida State League (FSL)
Clearwater Threshers News Release
CLEARWATER, FL - The Clearwater Threshers (20-6) became the first Single-A team to twenty wins in a walkoff 6-5 win over the Lakeland Flying Tigers (11-15) for the third straight night on Saturday evening at BayCare Ballpark. Clearwater goes for a sweep of their twelve-game homestand on Sunday afternoon.
The Threshers rattled off four-straight hits to start the bottom of the first inning, with Emaarion Boyd getting picked off at second after a leadoff single. Justin Crawford singled on the next pitch and came all the way around from first to score on a double by Caleb Ricketts that put the Threshers on the board. Gabriel Rincones Jr. singled and moved Ricketts to third base, and Ricketts scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Chad Castillo that gave the Threshers a 2-0 lead.
Lakeland got on the board in the second with an RBI single to halve the Threshers lead to 2-1. The game stayed scoreless until the home half of the fifth, which began with a leadoff walk to Jordan Viars. Otto Kemp singled and both were driven in by Crawford, who doubled to left with two outs and gave the Threshers a 4-1 lead. Ricketts drove in Crawford on a hit-and-run single to right to extend the lead to 5-1.
A sacrifice fly by Lazaro Benitez cut the Threshers lead down to 5-2 in the sixth and a wild pitch, a double, and a single added three more in the eighth to tie the game up at five. Bryan Rincon doubled to lead off the ninth but was thrown out at home by Flying Tigers right fielder Seth Stephenson to send the game into extra innings.
The Flying Tigers went down in order in the top of the tenth to bring up Boyd to start the home half of the extra-inning slate. Boyd led off the tenth with a bunt single that moved Minyety over to third. Boyd stole second before Crawford walked to load the bases. Ricketts hit a grounder to first off Flying Tigers reliever Quinn Gudaitis. Moises Valero bounced the throw home off the chest protector of Lakeland's catcher, allowing Freylin Minyety to score the winning run in a 6-5 walkoff win.
Alex McFarlane threw 5.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out seven in a no-decision. Jonh Henriquez allowed four runs on five hits with three strikeouts in 2.2 frames. Jack Dallas (2-0) earned the win, shutting out the Flying Tigers over the final 2.1 innings, allowing one hit and striking out one.
Clearwater heads into Sunday with the best win percentage in the minor leagues (.769) ... McFarlane set a career-high with seven strikeouts... Ricketts has an extra-base hit in five straight games... Kemp reached base for the 17th game... It is the second-longest on-base streak in the league... Dallas has not allowed a run in 15.2 innings... He is the first Thresher to reach 10 appearances this season... Fergus pinch-ran for Viars in the ninth... Rincon has a double in the ninth inning of the last two games... The Threshers conclude their twelve-game homestand against the Lakeland Flying Tigers (Single-A, Tigers) on Sunday, May 7th at BayCare Ballpark... First pitch is at 12:00 PM... You can purchase tickets for the Threshers season at ThreshersBaseball.com/tickets or by calling 727-467-4457.
Florida State League Stories from May 6, 2023
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- Third-Straight Walkoff Win Extends Streak to Twelve - Clearwater Threshers
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