FSL1 Clearwater Threshers

Threshers Fall Short in Comeback Bid on Saturday Night

Published on July 27, 2019 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Clearwater Threshers News Release


CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Clearwater Threshers dropped a back-and-forth contest to the Charlotte Stone Crabs, 6-3, at Spectrum Field on Saturday night. Despite the loss, the Philadelphia Phillies' affiliate gaine a half a game in the standings, and now sits at three games back of the top spot in the Florida State League North division.

Charlotte's (63-41, 28-10) offense put together early momentum for the third straight night in the second. Clearwater (54-51, 18-21) starter James McArthur walked Moises Gomez, Connor Hollis and Garrett Whitley to load the bases with nobody out. After striking out Joey Roach, McArthur walked Jake Palomaki to force home Gomez and give Charlotte a 1-0 lead. Michael Smith followed the free pass with a single to right to score Hollis and pushed the Stone Crabs ahead 2-0.

The hit forced the right-hander out of the game and Michael Gomez entered to face Kevin Kiermaier. The MLB rehabber hit a chopper to second and legged out a fielder's choice to score Whitley for the third run of the frame. Palomaki broke from third trying to score on the play, but was thrown out by Luke Miller to end the inning.

Charlotte built off the momentum with the hard-throwing Shane McClanahan, who dazzled through five innings with nine strikeouts and two baserunners allowed. However, the Threshers struck against the hard-throwing lefty in the sixth to tie the game at three apiece.

The left-hander recorded a groundout and a strikeout for the first two outs before Jhailyn Ortiz muscled a single to right. The ball went by the right-fielder Gomez for an error and allowed Ortiz to reach third. Nick Maton followed with a double to left to score Ortiz and put the Threshers on the board trailing 3-1.

Madison Stokes attacked a McClanahan pitch for the second consecutive double of the frame to plate Maton and put Clearwater within one. Dalton Guthrie secured the third run of the inning with another double to left to tie the game at three.

Maton improved to a six-game hitting streak with a 1-for-4 night. The No. 15 prospect for the Phillies leads the team with a .288 batting average and is third with a .741 OPS in the month of July.

McClanahan finished off the sixth, but left the game with a no-decision with three runs allowed on five hits and 10 strikeouts. The Threshers plated their most runs against a Charlotte starter in the series with the sixth inning doubles.

The bullpen kept Charlotte scoreless after the second with 6.2 frames from Michael Gomez, Keylan Killgore and Zach Warren. With the game tied at three in the ninth, Warren (1-2) entered for another inning of work but ran into command trouble.

Whitley led off the frame for the Stone Crabs with a walk and was pushed to second by a Roach sacrifice bunt. Warren issued a free pass to Palomaki to put runners on first and second before getting Smith to groundout to first for the second out. On a 2-1 count to Kiermaier, the left-handed batter laced a double down the line in left to put Charlotte ahead 5-3.

The third run of the frame scored a batter later when Guthrie's throw to get Wander Franco got away from first and brought Kiermaier home to put Clearwater behind 6-3.

Alex Valverde (3-4) entered a third inning of work in the bottom of the ninth and shut down the Threshers in the frame to secure the win for the Tampa Bay Rays' affiliate.

Clearwater holds a 2-1 series edge and is 5-4 overall against the Stone Crabs in 2019 despite the loss. The Philadelphia Phillies' affiliate had won four in a row over Charlotte before Saturday night's contest.

The Threshers aim for the series victory against the Stone Crabs on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the four-game set. RHP Alejandro Requena (6-8 4.67) gets the start for Clearwater against Charlotte RHP Tommy Romero (9-2 1.77). First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. with coverage beginning at 12:45 p.m. on Threshers Live! The Pregame Show at threshersbaseball.com.

Sunday's contest features Brunch at the Ballpark. A $17 presale ticket ($21 walk-up) brunch ticket includes a club level seat for the game and a buffet of eggs, breakfast meats, a carving station, juice, coffee and more from 12 p.m.-2 p.m.

Check out the Clearwater Threshers Statistics

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Florida State League Stories from July 27, 2019


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